As Reimer-Barry said in her interview, the Catholic church and education tradition encourages a constant deepening of faith and questioning. There are also a myriad of great past Catholic leaders for young people to look up to, specifically women. However, women leaders in Catholicism, particularly saints, are viewed in limited terms. They are venerated for their holiness and especially their virginity. Even women saints are sexualized, making it difficult for today's young girls to identify with these respectable women. The literature and lexicon of the Church surrounding women can be similarly as limiting. Women are mainly portrayed as homemakers and forced to accept their menial roles in society and the Church. Motherhood is an important and powerful part of womanhood, but it is not the only part. As citizens of the 21st century, the Church should try to embrace the changing (improving) roles of women in society with more empowering language and overall inclusion for young women.
Going to an all-girls Catholic high school gave me the opportunity to embrace my own womanhood. The Mount has empowered me to be confident in my gender. However, I think my own growth in religion and spirituality as a woman has been largely based on the fact that I was educated at an all-girls school, not necessarily a Catholic school. Sometimes when I go to Church, I find the sermons or the psalms alienating. Like in TV and current media, it seems that women are only portrayed by the Church in two ways: evil and deceitful like Eve or pure and holy like Mary. There is no middle ground. I think that can be discouraging for young girls. When I was younger, my favorite saint was Joan of Arc because she was courageous and strong. At 17 years old, she led an entire army to victory with only her own conviction and belief in God. I found her to be a more relatable saint than Mary because she was a normal kid who was scared. She had faith, compassion, integrity, courage and fortitude. Those are female qualities that the Catholic church should espouse.
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