ABSTRACT
We live in a culture where rape and IPV are routine occurrences, a culture where religious belief all too often fails to disrupt and repel messages of female subordination and submission. Our foresisters in the preceding chapters faced horrific responses from religious officials and institutions. Although we may wish to believe that the centuries that divide us from them have also removed us from theological and cultural constructs that reinforce the kind of male-centric messages about women and abuse they received, one need not look far to realize that such is not the case. We are surrounded by evidence that theological understandings can and do continue to reinforce messages of violence against women, or at minimum do not prevent them.
