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Being the Report of a Commission appointed by
the
Archbishops of Canterbury and York
Published by the Church Information
Office, London. Dec. 1966
APPENDIX 3
Supplementary Essays
A. PSYCHOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS
by Robert F. Hobson
1
Psychology is the science of human experience and behaviour, but it is a
science which is still at an early stage of development. In this chapter an
attempt is made to summarise those behavioural differences between men and
women which might have a bearing upon the question of the ordination of women;
but it is not possible to present a list of definite facts. Psychological
statements in this field range from descriptions of well-attested data to
expressions of personal opinions. The statistical evidence, outlined in the
early part of Section I, is fairly well established by controlled observation
and experimental method; but much other material in the chapter is more
speculative—especially in the discussion of symbolism. An attempt is made
to distinguish data from inference but this is not always possible and the
reader who is not a psychologist should remember that such a discussion
inevitably reflects some biassed selection and emphasis.
2
Psychological questions have been raised in almost all areas of the
Commission’s deliberations. Many of these are unanswerable at at the
present time and this chapter is designed only to point to some relevant
evidence and to indicate possible lines of thought about a few of the major
queries.
3 Are
the abilities, aptitudes and personality characteristics which are needed to
carry out a priest’s duties necessarily confined to one sex? If they are
not, is it likely that one sex will perform priestly functions better than the
other? (Section I).
4 How
far are sexual differences culturally determined? (Section II.) The Church
exists in a changing society and in many different cultures and subcultures.
The question is raised whether or not, or in what way, the Church should
attempt to promote a particular cultural pattern and hence to reinforce
particular sexual roles.
5 What
is the nature and origin of sex differences? (Section III.) Here, psychological
research and speculation is of direct relevance to theology and, although there
are differences of view, all members of the Commission agree that there is at
least some common ground between the two disciplines. In discussion of the text
‘ male and female created he them ’, of the meaning of the
Incarnation, and of the representative function of the priest, assumptions are
often made about the ‘ nature’ of man and woman and of ‘
natural’ masculine and feminine qualities or ‘ principles’.
Empirical data about factors which determine sex differences are certainly
invoked on either side of the debate about the ordination of women, and must be
relevant to these theological questions.
6 What
is the significance of the symbolism of sexual division and unity? (Sections IV
and V.) This symbolism is of central importance in Christian worship and
theology. What a priest symbolises is perhaps even more important than his
actual capacities. The question arises whether this symbolism is unchanging or
whether it is modified within a developing tradition and, if so, what are the
essential factors in this process.
7 To
what extent and in what way does prejudice effect discussions of the ordination
of women, whether in popular arguments or in the deliberations of a Commission?
(Section VI.)
I. Biological and psychological sex differences
8
Inherited factors are carried by small particles known as genes, which are
present in every cell of the body, where they are arranged in pairs of chains,
called chromosomes. Genes which carry inherited sex characteristics are present
in all the chromosomes but one pair is concerned specially with the
determination of sex. The genes can be referred to as ‘ male ’ and
‘ female ’ in that they initiate and, to some extent, regulate
processes which lead to the development of the external and internal sexual
organs, secondary sexual characteristics (body form, hair growth, size of
breasts) and sexual functioning. Their activity, however, is influenced by many
complex factors in prenatal and postnatal life, and the sexual characteristics
of a person are not determined by heredity alone.
9 It
is an important fact that every person inherits both male and female
tendencies. Sex is determined by a tilting of the balance one way or the
other—everyone is both sexes but more of one than the other. For instance,
certain chemicals known as sex hormones are important in the development of
specific sexual functions; but both men and women secrete both male and female
hormones and it is their relative proportion that determines many sexual
characteristics. If the terms ‘ male ’ and ‘ female ’ are
defined in terms of physical structure and function, there are wide variations,
and intermediate forms occur occasionally which can be difficult to classify as
being either male or female. The terms can have different meanings according to
whether they are used in a genetic, legal, social or anatomical
sense.
10 The
wide ‘ normal’ variation must always be borne in mind when
comparisons are made between the physical and psychological characteristics of
men and women. Statistical studies of sex differences which compare averages or
mean scores between samples of males and females can be misleading if the wide
variation and large overlap is neglected. In reading the following catalogue of
sexual differences which have been discovered by the use of psychological tests
it is important to remember this fact. For example, in one study, boys on the
average were shown to be strikingly superior to girls in arithmetical
reasoning, yet 28 % of the girls’ scores were higher than the average
score of the boys. Greater differences in attitudes have been found between
occupational groups of the same sex than between men and women in general; thus
women doctors or insurance agents resemble male doctors and insurance agents
more than they do housewives. It is dangerous to apply such broad studies to
individual cases, and in considering the suitability of a particular woman for
a particular job the scientific work on psychological sex differences is of
doubtful relevance. When asked which was more intelligent, a man or a woman, Dr
Johnson replied: ‘ Which man, which woman? ’
11
There are anatomical and physiological differences between males and females
other than those concerned specifically with primary and secondary sexual
characteristics and with reproduction. Males are taller and stronger than
females, have a larger air-capacity in the lungs, and tend to be more restless
and liable to vigorous overt activity. Females develop more quickly, reach
sexual maturity earlier, and from birth onwards are further advanced towards
adult status than males (e.g. in hardening of bones and dentition). At all
ages, females have more capacity to maintain life; more males die pre-natally
and they are biologically more vulnerable throughout life. The bodily
mechanisms which maintain a stable physiological state are more effective in
men; thus women and girls are more reactive to bodily stress than men, although
they tend to recover better.
12 It
is not easy to evaluate the vast literature on the psychological differences
between the sexes in a brief summary. It ranges from reports of well-designed
experiments to anecdotal observations and speculative discussions which are
difficult to evaluate. Unfortunately it is not possible to make reliable
measurements of many features of personality, and there is little scientific
support for many sweeping statements about the psychological qualities of men
and women which are not infrequently made in both popular and sophisticated
discussions of questions such as the ordination of women.
13
Males tend to excel in speed and co-ordination of gross bodily movements,
spatial orientation and other spatial aptitudes, mechanical comprehension and
arithmetical reasoning. Females tend to surpass males in manual dexterity,
perceptual speed and accuracy, memory, numerical computation, verbal fluency
and other tasks involving the manipulation of words. It is a striking fact that
girls express themselves in words more readily and skilfully than boys. Males
have been found to be superior on problems calling for ‘
restructuring’, i.e. discarding the first approach and reorganising facts
in new ways; moreover they are better able to transfer or apply skill and
knowledge to new situations. Some studies suggest that, in contrast to the male
‘ analytical’ approach, women tend to perceive totalities or larger
‘ wholes ’, paying less attention to detail.
14
Amongst children, boys’ play tends to be more active and vigorous,
involving manual dexterity and skill, and to be highly organised and
competitive, whereas the play of girls is more sedentary, reserved and
restrained. Boys are more interested in stories about adventure and travel, in
discussions of physical health, safety, money and sex, and they desire jobs
offering power, profit and independence. Girls like stories about love and
romance and are more concerned about personal attractiveness, personal
philosophy, planning the daily schedule, mental health, manners, personal
qualities, home and family relationships; in vocational choice they place a
higher value on interesting jobs, experiences and social service.
15 In
adult groups, money, business affairs and sports are more common in
conversations amongst men, whereas women talk more about people and clothes.
Men tend to prefer mechanical, computational and scientific work, whilst women
show greater interest in literary, musical, artistic, clerical and social
spheres. It seems that the enjoyment of artistic experience, a concern for the
welfare of others and emphasis upon spiritual and religious values are
relatively important life goals of women. Men on the other hand have more
interest in abstract knowledge and understanding, more drive for practical
success and more desire for prestige and power over others.
16 The
more sociable behaviour of women is, perhaps, associated with the fact that
they learn to use language earlier than men, as well as with subtle social
pressures. People and personal relationships figure much more in the dreams,
day-dreams and memories of girls than of boys, who are more concerned with
things. Females as a group, compared with males, tend to be more dependent,
more jealous, more concerned with the impression made upon others and with
social prestige, and they conform more to external group standards. Their
greater concern with the facial expressions of others has been described as
being characteristic of people with a less clear sense of separate
identity.
17
Males tend to be more aggressive than females, showing more anger, physical
destructiveness and quarrelsome behaviour in childhood. There is evidence that
women, as a group, are more unstable emotionally than men at adolescence and
after, and are possibly more likely to be maladjusted or psychoneurotic.
Considerably more women than men are admitted to mental hospitals, but social
reasons for this are important and statistics of incidence of various types of
mental illness are equivocal. Suicide, however, occurs more frequently in men
(by about four times in the U.S.A.) and it has been suggested that this could
be associated with man’s greater aggressiveness and the outer and inner
pressures on him to be successful and independent.
18 It
is said that, although women are more appreciative of art, they are less
creative than men; certainly, in spite of their marked aesthetic interests,
there have been few eminent women poets, musicians, sculptors or creative
scientists. It is possible that the greater tendency of females to conform, and
their difficulty in ‘ restructuring ’ ideas, results in diminished
originality. As might be expected, they are relatively better in literary
fields, as girls are superior to boys in learning to speak, read and acquire
vocabularies, and they tend more to notice details and sense people’s
reactions. It is suggested by some, however, that with increased opportunities
women are now forging ahead in creative fields.
19
Tests of masculinity and femininity have been constructed on the basis of
features which have been observed as being most characteristic of each sex,
i.e. most significant in differentiating males and - females in a particular
culture. Terman and Miles, the originators of one of the most commonly used
tests, in America, summarise these differences as follows:
‘ From whatever angle we have examined them the males included in
the standardisation groups evinced a distinctive interest in exploit and
adventure, in out-door and physically strenuous occupations, in machinery and
tools, in science, business and commerce. On the other hand, the females of our
groups have evinced a distinctive interest in domestic affairs and in aesthetic
objects and occupations; they have distinctly preferred more sedentary and
indoor occupations, and occupations more directly ministrative, particularly to
the young, the helpless, the distressed. Supporting and supplementing these are
the more subjective differences—those in emotional disposition and
direction. The males directly or indirectly manifest the greater self-assertion
and aggressiveness ; they express more hardihood and fearlessness, and more
roughness of manners, language and sentiments. The females express themselves
as more compassionate and sympathetic, more timid, more fastidious and
aesthetically sensitive, more emotional in general (or at least more expressive
of the four emotions considered), severer moralists, yet admit in themselves
weaknesses in emotional control and (less noticeably) in
physique.’
An
interesting, though perhaps not unexpected, finding is that the scores of
clergymen, on this test, reveal that they constitute one of the least ‘
masculine ’ (as defined by this test) of male professions or occupations.
It might be asked whether or not this result indicates attitudes and
characteristics which would be generally considered as suitable for the
ministry, and in what sense a priest should be ‘ masculine
’.
20
Many, and perhaps most, of the personality features that might be considered to
be important in the vocation of a priest have not yet been adequately
investigated experimentally. In many areas of human experience and behaviour
precise experiment is not yet possible. Nevertheless, important and useful
observations have been made by psychologists working in clinical and social
fields. One of the most influential schools of thought is that represented by
the method and theory of psychoanalysis inaugurated by Sigmund
Freud.
21
Many professional psychologists remain sceptical about the validity of
psychoanalytical findings, especially as most of the theories do not permit of
rigorous experimental testing. Others point to experimental evidence in favour
of at least some of the theory and stress the measure of agreement between a
very large number of careful clinical observers. The view of this writer is
that analytical theories are preliminary formulations of events occurring in
complex situations of human relationships and communication, which provide
valuable insights into the processes of human development. They do not carry
the same weight as the results of carefully controlled research such as has
been referred to above but in practical situations are often more useful. The
following brief account is necessarily highly selective and omits reference to
many differing trends in psychoanalytical thought.
22
Freud considers that there are no definite intrinsic psychological differences
between the male and female infant and that basic human trends are bisexual. He
does suggest that the male is, perhaps, more ‘ active’ but that the
concepts of masculinity and femininity ‘ vanish into mere activity and
passivity, and this is very little indeed ’. It is the anatomical
peculiarities which lead to differences in development and hence to distinctive
features of character. Together with the differences in genital organs go
different possibilities for the satisfaction of desires and needs.
23 The
baby derives satisfaction from pleasurable sensations associated with
stimulation of certain parts of the body (erogenous zones). Early character
formation is determined by the strength of drives which are directed towards
gratification of bodily desires, and by the degree and mode of satisfaction or
frustration of these needs. At first, the mouth is the important zone, and
later the anus. This early phase of relationship with the mother is important
with regard to subsequent attitudes towards mothers and women in general, and
is relevant to the study of religious attitudes and symbolism. In order that
the sexual differentiation may proceed normally, it is important that this very
early relationship with the mother should have been satisfactory. A disturbance
in one stage of development inevitably affects the next stage. According to
Freud, between the ages of two and four the external genital organs become the
focus of the child’s bodily needs, and from now on the course of
development (the Oedipus complex) is different in the boy and girl.
24 The
boy becomes preoccupied with sensations in his penis and seeks gratifications
which will release the feelings of tension. His desires are closely associated
with his mother, to whom, Freud suggests, he becomes attached in a frankly
sexual fashion. The father becomes a rival, and the expressions of the
child’s desires are met, by him, with disapproval. The boy wishes that the
father would die and has fantasies of destroying him. But this ‘
death-wish ‘ results in a severe inner threat, partly because of the fear
of retaliation by the father and partly because the boy loves him and needs his
support and authority. There is guilt about sexual and aggressive wishes and a
fear of the father as a ruthless avenger, which becomes specifically a fear of
castration. Freud suggests that this fear is directly or indirectly conveyed to
the child, by parents or others, or it might possibly be inborn as an ancestral
heritage. The inner conflict of the boy is solved by means of an identification
with the father. He unconsciously feels himself to be the father and hence he
can both enjoy the mother and can, by means of an’ inner father ‘ or
conscience, inhibit his own dangerous proclivities. In striving to be like the
father the boy incorporates the attitudes and behaviour that connote manliness
in his culture. The incestuous desire for the mother is no longer experienced
consciously but persists outside awareness and can be expressed in indirect
ways. The sexual wish is diverted to other females whom the young man can
desire and overtly pursue without fear of castration or guilt.
25
Freud finds the course of development in the girl more difficult to explain and
his description of it is less convincing. He himself says: ‘ If you want
to know more about femininity you must interrogate your own experience or turn
to the poets or else wait until science can give you more profound and more
coherent information.’ He considers that the important event is when a
girl discovers that she lacks a penis. She then feels ill-equipped and
inadequate, and she turns away from her mother, whom she regards as responsible
for her lack and as being inadequate and unable to give her what she wants and
needs. As she learns that other females are so affected, she comes to
depreciate all women. She wishes to regain a penis via the male—to
incorporate it in her vagina—and it is this admiration for and envy of the
penis that attracts her to her father. Now, the mother is a rival and the
subsequent course of development, leading to an identification with the mother,
has similar features, in reverse, to that of the boy. In his discussions of
female psychology, Freud puts great emphasis upon the woman’s deep sense
of the lack of a male organ. ‘Anatomy is her fate ’, he says. She
feels fundamentally inferior in that something she ought to have is lacking,
and she envies men for having what fate has denied her. She seeks substitutes
in husband, children (in fantasy a baby can represent a penis), possessions or
other culturally permitted compensations, in an effort to obtain something that
remains unobtainable. Freud considers that as the girl identifies less with the
paternal law-giver, her conscience does not attain the strength and
independence of that of the man—a position which seems akin to the
widespread idea that her values tend to be more personal and humane, and less
concerned with purely abstract principles.
26
Characterological differences between the sexes have been related to the
different experiences in coitus. A man must be able to have an erection and to
maintain it until orgasm. He must openly demonstrate this ability, which cannot
be concealed, and which is not dependent upon his will. A woman’s sexual
availability can be willed, her lack of desire can be concealed, and she needs
to demonstrate nothing. Her sexual satisfaction depends upon whether a man
desires her enough to have an erection. These differences result in specific
anxieties and attitudes. A man has to prove something, and there is always the
risk of failure in the ‘ test’ of sexual intercourse, castration
being an extreme instance. He has to prove constantly to himself, to women, and
to other men, that he lives up to any expectation of him. He wishes for
prestige and seeks reassurance about the fear of sexual failure by competing in
all other spheres of life in which will-power, physical strength and
intelligence are useful in ensuring success. He wishes to be a good performer
and is sensitive to ridicule, especially from women, and he defends himself
against this weapon of the other sex by dominating them, demonstrating his
power and attempting to make them feel weak and inferior. The woman is
vulnerable in that she is dependent upon the man and his erection, and her
basic anxiety does not lie in fear of failure but in being left to wait, alone
and frustrated. She has a need to attract. Her anxiety, associated with
dependency, often leads to a wish for a male genital organ. It might be that
the root of this wish is not, primarily, that she lacks something. It is often
a wish to avoid dependency and to be unrestricted in her activity. Her method
of attack is to undermine man by contempt, to imply expectation of his failure
and to make him impotent.
27
Although there are qualifications on points of detail, the main features of
Freud’s description of the sexual development for the boy are accepted by
virtually all psychoanalysts, and by a very large number of other
psychologists, but many modify his ideas about the process in the girl. Some
put much more emphasis upon innate, phylogenetically determined factors and
upon the very early bodily experiences of the small infant. Many, however,
consider that Freud’s view underestimates the great importance of cultural
factors and that, in comparison with socially rooted differences, the
biological determinants are insignificant.
II. Sexual roles and cultural differences
28
Anthropological research reveals that sex roles and sex stereotypes vary
greatly in different cultures, and in some societies there is a reversal of
those sex attitudes which are typical of our culture. The deviant in one
society coincides with the traditional ideal of another. For example, an
argument that girls play with dolls because of a nascent maternal drive or
instinct is seriously weakened by the fact that when dolls were introduced to
the Manus of New Guinea, where they had previously been unknown, it was only
the boys who crooned lullabies to them and showed typical parental behaviour.
There is indeed no need to travel to distant parts of the world to demonstrate
such variations. When the masculinity-femininity test of Terman and Miles was
given to subjects in Holland, only a few of the items differentiated
significantly between men and women, and the bulk of research on this test
suggests that the differences are culturally determined.
29
Many critics have argued that Freud’s original observations were made
within a very definite cultural pattern. His patients came from patriarchal
families in which the father was the authority and moral arbiter and hence was
likely to be a formidable figure. Anthropologists have pointed out that the
pattern of the Oedipal conflict is different in some pre-literate cultures and
there is evidence of changes in Western societies, and of differences in
sub-cultures within these societies. In the U.S.A. and perhaps to a lesser
extent in Britain, the father’s moral role has steadily diminished and it
is increasingly the mother who makes the final decisions concerning the values,
skills and careers that the children of the family should be induced to adopt.
The middle class boy is exhorted to surpass and outdo his father, and so
differs from the upper class boy, who more frequently looks up to his father as
a paragon. As the middle class mother deals more with the day to day moral
education of her children, her son is more likely to identify with her than is
his upper class peer. Hence he is likely to experience more difficulty in
assuming the male role, which still traditionally requires assertiveness,
self-reliance and forcefulness. Moreover he is more likely to have sexual
problems as he internalises his mother’s sexual attitudes as well as her
moral values. In this and in many other respects, changing social values
influence profoundly the classic performance of the Oedipus drama.
30
Adler, an early colleague of Freud, was the first psychotherapist to ascribe a
major importance to cultural factors in determining psychological sex
differences. He stresses the importance of the superior valuation which is put
upon the male sex in our culture and the problems posed for both sexes by the
implicit or explicit demand to live up to the manly role demanded by society. A
man feels insecure in his masculinity whereas, from her earliest years, a girl
is made to feel an inferior in a traditional man’s world. Many
psychologists reinterpret Freud’s concept of penis-envy in social terms.
The lack of a penis is not the cause but a symbol of a woman’s feeling of
social inferiority. If a society values political and economic power, then
those who pursue these goals are esteemed. If a woman is barred from goals
which all members of the society are taught to cherish, she inevitably feels
inferior; she then covets the male status together with its anatomical
trademark. Others have pointed out, however, that men also envy women. This
‘ womb envy ‘ was most evident in ancient or non-literate cultures in
which great emphasis was put upon natural productivity; but it is by no means
absent today when a man feels unable to meet the demands of the masculine
stereotype, and it is perhaps accentuated in those sections of society in which
the mother’s role is greatly valued. Nevertheless, such careful
investigations as have been carried out show that, in both adults and children,
males show a greater preference for the masculine role than females do for the
feminine role—a fact which no doubt reflects the prestige and advantages
which are still associated with the male role in Western culture.
31
Boys and girls are subjected to different environmental influences. By means of
different treatment from parents, other adults and playmates, they are made
aware of what is expected of them in speech, manners, dress and play. There is
evidence that working-class children develop an awareness of sex roles earlier
than middle-class children and that boys do so before girls. Unpleasant
childhood experiences, broken homes and parental maladjustment tend to make it
more difficult for a child to accept the male or female model of behaviour
presented by his own culture and there is often a deviation to the norm of the
opposite sex. Those children who fit in with the prevalent stereotype (e.g.
that boys are independent and girls are dependent) are more popular with their
peers than children who do not. Conversely, those children who depart from the
social norm (e.g. boys who excel in verbal ability and girls who have more
spatial ability) tend to show more personality disorders than those whose
aptitudes are more consistent with the stereotype. There is evidence that
emphasis upon the desirability of conforming to traditional sexual roles
inhibits creativity in children.
32
There have been definite changes in sex stereotypes in the history of our
culture. For instance, many writers have referred to the ‘ masculine’
character of the deliberate, intellectual, and serious women of the Middle
Ages, whose men-folk were prone to dissolve into tears. There is good reason to
suppose that at the present time changes of sexual roles are occurring which
might vary in different sections of society—age groups, social and
occupational classes. One recent study of London’s East End population
demonstrates how the old style working-class marriage is fast disappearing. A
new kind of companionship reflects a rise in status of the wife and a less
rigid definition of the boundaries of the sexual roles. It is possible that the
basic assumptions of members of this Commission, or of readers of their Report,
about what a woman is, or ought to be, might be very different from those held
by a large number of their compatriots.
33 A
problem which might have some bearing upon the ordination of women is the
conflict which occurs between new social arrangements and old traditional
ideas. Formal sexual equality is a poor remedy when, as in our society, the
tradition of male responsibility remains, and it seems probable that the
greater equalisation of education and sporadic admission of women to certain
occupations traditionally recognised as ‘ masculine ’, without the
removal of other sources of frustration and discrimination, may increase
conflict and maladjustment, at least during a period of transition.
III. The origin and nature of sex differences
34
Throughout the centuries debates have continued about whether the differences
between men and women are due to nature or to nurture. The arguments have often
been motivated by political ideas about social equality or inequality. The
philosophers of the French Enlightenment of the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries and of the early Soviet Union maintained that environment and
education were the basic cause of personality differences, whereas the
Romantics of the early nineteenth century regarded the sexes as embodying
differences, or even opposites, which were in the nature of creation. Many
disagreements between modern psych-logists about the respective importance of
innate and acquired factors seem to derive as much from ideological and
temperamental differences as from consideration of the weight of the
evidence— and perhaps this chapter is no exception. Perhaps the argument
must always be inconclusive, or even meaningless, if stated in its usual form.
The question remains whether or how far psychological sex sex differences are
modifiable by environmental or cultural changes, and this is most relevant in
considering the claims of a traditional male priesthood in changing
circumstances. Furthermore, phrases such as ‘ the essential nature ’
of man and woman are often used in theological discussions of the ordination of
women and it must be asked what meaning, if any, can be given to such
terms.
35
There is good reason to suppose that some basic psychological differences
between men and women (masculine and feminine qualities) are regularly
associated with genetic, anatomical and physiological differences (maleness and
femaleness). It is probable that women’s drives and capacities are not the
same as men’s and certainly their experiences of differences in bodily
form and in sexual and reproductive behaviour cannot be the same. The nature of
the correlation of biological and psychological factors is, however, obscure.
Some physical factors have a direct psychological effect; the presence of male
and female sex hormones influences certain aspects of behaviour, such as
aggressiveness. The difference is, of course, one of degree, for each sex
secretes both types of hormone.
36 It
is, however, the social implications of physical differences which lead to
divergent personality development. Such biological differences as exist are
reinforced or minimised to a great degree by cultural factors, which determine
the value of a particular masculine or feminine trait. The gross bodily
differences (body size, strength, endurance) may play an important part in play
activities, interests and achievements in various fields of work, and may
possibly foster aggressiveness and dominance in males. The quicker development
of girls might well mean that they tend to associate with boys older than
themselves. As a younger person has less wisdom, information and sense of
responsibility, this may be at the root of many social attitudes towards the
two sexes, such as female inferiority. But although male dominance is
widespread, its extent varies a great deal and occasionally it is reversed.
Modern occupations do not correspond to primitive categories, and physical
strength and aggression are now less important. It is desirable that our
thinking should be guided less by traditional stereotypes than by the needs of
a specific situation and the qualities of a particular individual. As the
education of women has become more like that of men, they have shown capacities
in many fields for which their ‘ minds’ were previously thought to be
unfitted.
37 The
fact that cultural factors determine overt differences in sexual roles does not
necessarily mean, however, that there are not some fundamental factors which
might, in certain social settings, be merely obscured. Indeed, some
psychologists make value judgments about forms of society according to whether
the culture promotes or frustrates what are regarded as being essential sex
differences.
38 As
mentioned above, Freud suggests the possibility that certain modes of
experience could be the expression of an ancestral heritage. Similar notions
have been formulated by other psychologists, notably C. G. Jung, who elaborates
a concept of the archetype. Jung states that ‘ an inherited collective
image of woman exists in man’s unconscious with the help of which he
apprehends the nature of woman ’. The word ‘ image ’ is here
used in a special sense, however; it is a ‘virtual image’, ‘an
innate psychic structure that allows men to have experiences of this kind
’. That is to say that in man there are innate tendencies to organise the
data of his experience in typical forms. It is not the images as such which are
inherited but the predisposition to select, combine and recombine elements of
experience in particular patterns. Jung has defined some of these archetypal
themes by means of a comparative method. A typical image or motif which recurs
in the psychological material of different people is demonstrated in the
fantasy products (e.g. myths, folk-lore, ritual) of people in many parts of the
world and in many ages, an important criterion being that it has a similar
context and meaning whenever it occurs. Examples of some forms of the feminine
archetype are the Great Mother, the Virgin, the Harlot, the Witch, the
Temptress and the Spiritual Guide.
39
Jung uses two ‘ intuitive concepts’ which he does not wish to define
too specifically. The Logos is that which discriminates, differentiates and
brings order out of chaos; Eros is a principle of relatedness, connection and
receptivity. In a general way, the Logos function is characteristic of the
masculine consciousness and Eros of the feminine consciousness. A woman’s
attitude is more personal, her world tends to be made up of fathers and
mothers, brothers and sisters, husband and children, and she is conscious of
the infinite nuances of personal relationships. These later often escape the
man, who is concerned more with objective facts and their interconnections and
with general, more impersonal matters such as the nation, the state and
business affairs. The woman tends to adapt by means of feeling and the man by
thought. The masculine and feminine modes of consciousness can thus supplement
or complement each other. It is by no means clear whether Jung considers these
differences to be wholly innate or partially acquired. On the whole he seems to
assume a biological foundation for them and for the images to which they give
rise, but it seems that he regards them only as general trends. In his work on
psychological types, which he considers have a biological basis, he states that
thinking types are more common amongst males and feeling types amongst females,
but he stresses that the distribution of types over-rides the distinctions of
sex.
40 It
is suggested by some that individual and group disharmony can result from the
fact that a social veneer of cultural values is out of keeping with an innate
sexual nature which persists unchanged below the surface, and which might be
expressed in roundabout, and often ill-adapted, ways. Some psychologists have
diagnosed modern western culture as being unhealthy because of the convergence
of sex roles; a confusion of gender has arisen and both men and women have
doubts about their sexual roles, and these writers claim that there is a need
to ‘ revive the lost feminine image’. The historical and cultural
data can unfortunately be selected and used to support very different ‘
psychological ’conjectures. For instance, in direct contrast to the
suggestion outlined above, an argument can be put forward that such concepts as
‘ the Eternal Feminine’ are fictions designed to maintain the vested
interests of men. Although there is good evidence that confusion and
psychological disturbances are associated with changes in traditional sex
roles, the diagnosis, prognosis and treatment are problematical and it is
questionable whether psychologists are specially competent to make
pronouncements about them.
41 The
disagreements between psychologists point to the fact that the evidence in this
sphere is inadequate. The viewpoint tentatively expressed in this chapter is
expressed aptly by Erich Fromm, who recognises some masculine and feminine
psychological characteristics which are rooted in biological differences but
regards these as of little significance in relation to cultural influences and
as affording no basis for casting men and women in different roles in any given
society. He says:
‘. . . deeper than the difference between the sexes is their
equality, the fact that men and women are first of all human beings sharing the
same potentialities, the same desires, and the same fears. Whatever is
different in them on account of their natural differences .. . provides their
personalities, which are fundamentally alike, with slight differences in the
emphasis of one or another trend, an emphasis which appears empirically as a
colouring.’
42 It
does not seem to be possible to determine how far those images which are called
‘ archetypal’ or ‘ deposits from all our ancestral
experiences’ are conveyed, sometimes sub-liminally and in early childhood,
by historical and cultural traditions embodied in stories, folklore and
religious or social customs. Perhaps the question is not a significant one; the
fact remains that everyone has a potent traditional inheritance and it is
important to recognise the importance of stereotypes of masculine and feminine
in determining fundamental attitudes.
IV. Sexual stereotypes and symbols
43 In
a relatively impersonal situation, such as the Holy Eucharist, the members of
the congregation are likely to perceive and to react to a woman celebrant on
the basis of individual and group stereotypes, rather than in accordance with
her own personal qualities. In many circumstances such reactions are
accompanied by strong emotions which have deep-seated and often unconscious
roots. Perhaps the most important psychological question is not whether a woman
has the capacities to perform the duties of a priest but what she will
symbolise for those in her cure. Unfortunately, this is the most difficult
question to answer. The experimental study of symbolism is in its infancy and
the nature of the data is such as to make controlled obversation very difficult
or impossible. Hence, although classification of the phenomena can be
attempted, inferences and interpretations are likely to be arbitrary and to a
large extent intuitive. In the absence of strict scientific controls, personal
beliefs, attitudes and emotional vested interests inevitably obtrude, and
psychological formulations in this field are, to a greater or lesser degree,
subjective confessions.
44
During development, a person acquires more or less stereotyped emotionally
charged conceptions of man and woman, of male and female, which profoundly
influence his behaviour, although they are not wholly accessible to
introspection. They reflect repeated experiences in the past, especially in
relationships with parent figures in the formative years of early childhood.
Since there are uniformities in the anatomical, physiological and psychological
constitution of all human beings, similarities in the socio-biological life of
every child, and regularities in the customs and mores of cultures, these
stereotypes have common features. These general characteristics are always
profoundly modified, however, by unique personal experience, and such words as
‘ father ’ and ‘ mother ’, whether used literally or
symbolically, evoke complex and varying emotional reactions and behaviour
patterns in different people. A complete account would cover the whole field of
psychology and only a few tendencies can be touched upon here.
45 The
realities of the infant’s world are food, warmth and physical support, and
love is equivalent to the satisfaction of these desperate and urgent needs.
Gratification of bodily desires leads to the experience of what can be called
‘ mother’s love ’, which is providing, protecting, enfolding and
unconditional; it is unearned by the child, who comes to accept that’ I am
loved because I am ’— ‘ because I am mother’s baby ’.
As development proceeds, the child experiences approval and disapproval, reward
and punishment, and comes to appreciate a love that is given and withheld
according to how he behaves—‘ I am given love when 1 earn it’.
Although there are wide differences in parental roles, authority and conformity
to the standards of the outer world are traditionally associated with the
father and we can speak loosely of ‘ father’s love’.
Unconditional and conditional love are not necessarily and invariably
associated with mother and father images respectively, but it is probable that
this represents a general tendency, and for many, if not most, people the
experience of God’s love evokes maternal associations.
46 The
infant and small child experience not only gratification and love, but
frustration, rage and hostility; and states of blissful union are shattered by
separation and loss. In the earliest months of life, infants of both sexes are
dependent upon contact with the mother for the satisfaction of bodily needs.
When gratification is delayed or withheld, the baby probably experiences states
of intolerable frustration. It seems that in his early experience of the mother
these pleasant and unpleasant states are associated with distinct separate
images of the mother or of parts of her body. There is then a ‘ good
mother ’ to be sought and a ‘ bad mother ‘ to be avoided. An
important stage of development is when the realisation comes that it is the
same person who gratifies and withholds, that the mother is both ‘ good
’ and ‘ bad ’. If, however, the excess of gratification over
deprivation is too small, this fusion is imperfect. The child or adult
continues to yearn for and seek the solace and comfort of the ideally good
mother and to fear the ‘ terrible mother’ who destroys and deprives.
This is only one example of how, in certain circumstances, distorted images of
parents which are formed in childhood can persist into adult life and lead to
unadapted modes of behaviour which resist modification by subsequent
experience. .......
47 The
achievement of an ability to love altruistically and sexually depends greatly
upon the satisfactory passage through earlier stages of development. In fact or
in fantasy, sexual union can have many different meanings. It can be an
expression of altruistic love in a relationship between differentiated
individuals or it can be, and perhaps always is to some extent, an attempt to
satisfy an unfulfilled yearning for an ideal union with the mother. As an image
in fantasy or in religious devotion, it may be a symbol which intimates a more
complete integration of the personality or it may be an auto-erotic avoidance
of the anxiety associated with separation or adult sexuality.
48 The
above schematic anecdotes and interpretations are presented in order to
indicate some of the varied meanings which can be given to figures who
represent mothers, fathers, and lovers. They raise important questions
regarding the use of male and female parental imagery in Christianity and,
particularly, whether or not such imagery tends to promote and to maintain an
undesirable state of dependence similar to that of childhood. Some
psychologists regard all religion as a means of denying and avoiding unpleasant
reality, usually as a disguised expression of unresolved problems with parents
persisting from early years; e.g. a man who has a continuing need to depend on
his mother seeks security within Mother Church and looks for comfort, pleasant
feelings and for answers to his prayers for immediate needs; whereas another
who has not solved the conflict with his father finds relief in servile
submission to the authority of dignitaries, the Church or a harsh law-giving
God. Other psychologists, whilst recognising such immature attitudes, argue
that there is also a mature religion in which behaviour is not determined by
egocentric needs but guided by intrinsic values which are evident in a capacity
for altruistic love. However, no one is free from infantile desires and
impulses nor is he able to stand the full impact of reality. Perhaps it is one
of the functions of religion to provide some satisfaction for these needs, by
including modes of belief and worship which cater for people at all stages of
development. The important requirement is that development should be furthered
and not hindered. It is important to remember always that terms such as ‘
maturity ’,’ psychological health ’ or ‘ integration ’
are often ill-defined; at best they reflect current social and scientific
attitudes and at worst they represent more or less disguised expressions of
personal values or prejudices.
49 In
the adult, the kind of thinking which is termed symbolic often represents a
return to the egocentric fantasy world of childhood, in an effort to avoid the
painful stresses of current reality. But this is not always so. During
development, activities and images such as breast-feeding or sexual intercourse
develop a wider and more profound significance; they cease to refer directly
and solely to physical relationship and acquire meanings in the context of
intellectual, social and religious activities. Women are receptive in
intercourse and bear children but in their symbolical elaborations these
organic facts come to express the nuances of the receptive and creative aspects
of life. By means of the symbol it is possible to communicate psychological
states which cannot be contained within an intellectual formulation. Images,
which are often disparate, are combined in order to express or suggest meaning
or significance, by mobilising sensory and emotional as well as intellectual
experiences. The root of the word ‘ symbol’ suggests a throwing or
putting together; components of past experience are abstracted, elaborated,
reorientated and recom-bined in the creation of new forms.
50
Symbolism is an essential element in religious language and ritual.
Representations of what is known, such as the bodies and behaviour of men and
women, are used to intimate the unknown or dimly apprehended nature of God and,
in the analogy, immediate bodily needs can be transformed into social and
spiritual values. The genesis of symbolism can be seen in myth and ritual (the
stories told and the actions performed) which express human responses to
recurrent situations of crisis, of profound individual and social
importance.
51
There is a wide variation in the degree of generality in symbolism. Each
individual has had unique experiences in the past which will be evident in his
private symbolism, and general themes are modified by particular individual and
group experiences. Nevertheless there is good reason to think that certain
regular patterns or forms of imagination and behaviour have been evident in
many parts of the world throughout history. A very brief mention will be made
of some of these themes which have been elucidated by study of myths,
folk-lore, ritual and religion, and compared with similar motifs in the fantasy
and dream life of modern man. It must be stressed, however, that many such
studies lack precision and this field is a fertile one for special
pleading.
52
Although particular myths cannot be adequately understood apart from their
unique cultural contexts, yet they embody general patterns which intimate ways
in which mankind has striven to satisfy the need to give coherence and meaning
to the great mysteries of human life and the cosmos. There is good reason to
think that these patterns are by no means obsolete but are highly significant
in the behaviour of modern man and a factor in determining many of the
experimental results referred to in Section I.
53 In
most developed mythologies the male god tends to have sterner qualities as
ruler, law-giver, judge, protector and conqueror and is associated with the sky
and with culture. The goddess is usually gentler and possesses the more
beautiful and bountiful qualities of nature and not infrequently acts as
intermediary between gods and men. The land is made fertile by the light and
heat from the sun, the rain and, to the primitive mind, the wind. Thus, by
analogy, female nature is equated with the material earth (matter, mater,
matrix, etc.), which receives the masculine fertilising, immaterial, spiritual,
air (wind) and fire. But both gods and goddesses are ambivalent and have dark
and threatening aspects. A monstrous, vengeful father-god can also be the
representative of security, trust and kindness. The mother-goddess intimates
the destructive, death-dealing aspects of nature; she can be tender and
fruitful but she also emasculates and destroys her sons-and-lovers. The Indian
bloody mother Durga-Kali wears a necklace of human skulls; but she is also the
good mother earth.
54
Recurrent themes in mythology have been used to support arguments in favour of
concepts of masculine and feminine ‘ principles ’ which, in some way,
‘ exist’ in the nature of man. The imagery described above is by no
means universal, however, and it is impossible to predicate fixed qualities to
gods and goddesses. Goddesses often dwell in, and represent, the sky, and
indeed in some places or times they have exercised almost every conceivable
office as deity, with appropriate qualities to fit the part. Furthermore, the
sexual qualities of the gods, and their material analogues, change from period
to period.
55 An
inherited symbolism is an important part of the tradition which helps to
maintain the structure and cohesiveness of society, but the effectiveness of
particular symbols varies in different epochs. After a period of ‘ life
’, traditional symbols ‘ die ’ and lose their force, retaining
only an historical significance. Each age needs symbols which are readily
apprehended and which are relevant to its material and social culture. In
agricultural and pastoral communities the fertility of the crops and animals
was the prime concern, and a central social act was the sympathetic magic, or
analogical ritual, of the sexual union of the human representatives of the
culture god and earth goddess, who was made fertile. The sexual symbolism of
such communities, which is reflected in the Christian tradition, might be quite
inappropriate in a mass industrialised society—a fact which is important
with reference to Christian imagery and the changing stereotypes of male and
female. To recognise the importance of a traditional inheritance does not
necessarily imply that it is unchangeable or that it should be
reinforced.
56
Although the particular qualities conceived to be masculine and feminine have
varied from time to time and from place to place, all societies have recognised
differences between men and women. An oft repeated theme of psychological
significance is that of division between the sexes and the search for a unity
by their conjunction.
V. Bisexual symbolism and psychological development
57
During development, a person needs to become aware of, to develop, and to
establish, characteristics of his own sex, with reference to constitutional
characteristics and the demands of the social situation. This reinforcement of
a particular sexual role involves a neglect of potentialities which are
incompatible with conscious values and social mores. There is a tendency for a
man to renounce those qualities which are regarded as ‘ feminine ’
and for a woman to repudiate her more ‘ masculine’ characteristics.
The performance of the socially valued, but limited, roles puts a strain on the
members of each sex, and an intolerable one on some of them. The
differentiation of the sexes by status and role, with the requirement of
keeping one’s role distinct at all times, induces tensions in both sexes
whatever the social prerogatives attached to it. The resulting envy of the
opposite sex, mentioned above, is an important factor in society. In fact, many
cultures provide socially sanctioned occasions and ceremonies in which members
of opposite sexes can temporarily change roles, and there are some relics of
these in our society.
58 The
limitations which are placed upon an individual by the proscribed, or desired,
sexual role are very important psychologically, and are of special significance
in the psychology of religion. It is a problem which has occupied some
psychologists of the phenomeno-logical-existentialist movement and has been
extensively explored by C. G. Jung. They stress the importance of the polarity
of sex, and, in general, describe a masculine attitude as being more universal,
abstract, intellectual and spiritual, and a feminine one as being more
concrete, personal and emotional. But as Jaspers puts it: ‘ Psychic sexual
polarity is not distributed as between two individuals in a mutually exclusive
way but is carried as a contrasting whole within the individual himself’.
In the realisation of one side, the other tends to be put into the background;
but the fulness of experience, and the peak of life, is attained when there is
a constant movement between two extremes—an uncomfortable division, but
the possibility of a harmonious synthesis,
59
Jung puts great emphasis upon the fact that both men and women possess
psychological qualities which are characteristic of the opposite sex. Such
traits, wishes and attitudes form an aggregate outside consciousness forming a
‘ complex ’. This complex has more or less indirect effects upon
behaviour which are evident in such phenomena as unadapted moods or opinions
and in magical relations between the sexes, and it can be personified in
dreams, fantasies, visions, and religious experience. It can perhaps be best
conceived as if it were a separate, though partial, ‘ personality ’
which is distinct from, and not under the control of, the conscious ego (the
‘ I’). ‘ In the unconscious of every man there lies a female
soul or anima and in the unconscious of every woman a male soul or
animus.’ He considers that the complex derives from three sources: the
latent (and presumably genetically determined) contra-sexual elements in the
personality, the experience that a man has had of women and vice versa, and the
masculine and feminine archetype. Jung describes how, by ‘ relating ’
to the anima or animus as an ‘ inner reality’, psychic contents,
hitherto unconscious, can be assimilated and utilised and latent potentialities
developed. It is part of a process occurring in middle life which leads towards
a greater wholeness of the individual and which is often characterised by the
appearance of symbols of the conjunction of the sexes and of the bisexual Man.
Such images intimate the possibility of a totality, referred to by Jung as the
self, which transcends the limitations of the ego. It is important to remember,
however, that Jung stresses that an essential preliminary to the integration
process, which is represented by the symbolism of sexual conjunction, is the
establishment of a particular sex role which is differentiated from the
contra-sexual anima or amimus. The androgynous image often expresses not a
mature development but a state of sexual non-differentiation.
60 The
broad features of this development of consciousness have been related by Jung
and others to mythological themes, traditional symbolism, and the development
of culture. Some of Jung’s suggestions will be presented briefly, because
he is one of the few psychologists who have discussed at length the
psychological significance of sexual symbolism in Christian history. It is to
be noted, however, that the argument cannot be verified, that it strays beyond
the limits of psychology at many points, and that it is open to criticism by
psychologists, historians and theologians.
61 It
is a very doubtful supposition that the development of the individual
recapitulates social-religious evolution. Nevertheless it is of interest to
order some of these mythological themes and note the similarities to some broad
features of psychological development. In most preliterate, and some ancient,
religions the mother-goddess is dominant; her son-lover-husband is secondary
and derivative, and often he is a mere appendage who is castrated or killed by
her. Motherhood is an obvious fact, but the connection between sexual
intercourse and pregnancy is less apparent and it seems probable that this only
came to be recognised in relatively developed cultures. Fatherhood is a more
sophisticated concept than motherhood. The primacy of the mother-goddess no
doubt reflects the basic physiological and anatomical fact that the son comes
out of the mother and not vice versa.
62 The
transition from a society which is dominated by the female to one in which male
values are predominant is widely represented in myth and ritual. The male world
often only comes into being by an act of forcible emancipation. The myth of the
hero who triumphs over the dragon-mother and her dark kingdom is enacted in
puberty rites, which involve a dramatisation of separation from the mother and
the world of women, a symbolic death with a rebirth from a male-mother, and
incorporation into the man’s house and the adult male society. As the
myths are elaborated, the theme comes to have a more general significance
(although this is sometimes evident in myths which might be regarded as most
primitive). The triumph of male over female is the victory of masculine light,
culture and differentiated consciousness over the feminine womb of water, chaos
and darkness. The feminine abyss remains a danger, however; it promises
blissful repose, but this means being swallowed and submerged, order and
consciousness being lost in chaos.
63 A
recurrent theme in ritual and myth is the union of the sexes. Various forms of
the ritual and myth of the sacred marriage reveal a development from fertility
magic to a highly symbolical representation in which the incompleteness and
division between the sexual opposites is overcome in a new synthesis. The
‘ marriage ’ is either between the god and goddess or between man and
the gods. The human representatives are sometimes the priests (or the king),
sometimes the priestesses (who are often virgins or prostitutes) or
occasionally both. In Phrygia, the goddess was the chief figure as the source
of all good things and her representative, the priestess, was the centre and
head of the religion. The god was the mediator between the divine and human
worlds and his priest was the director of ritual. The holy marriage here had
developed a long way from nature magic and was intended to convey the full
teaching about the perfect completion of human life.
64 In
many myths there is an original state of chaos personified as a bisexual god or
serpent. An essential feature of creation is the separation of this primordial
androgynous unity, when heaven and earth come into being, and the sexes are
differentiated. The newborn hero is at first under the domination of the great
mother who, although fruitful and protective, is also dark, stagnant, and
devouring (the closed circuit life-death-life of the fertility cults).
Eventually the mother is overcome by the light-bringing masculine hero, who is
then able to find his female mate and restore the male-female unity on a new
level. Some psychologists find a parallel between this theme and the process of
the development of consciousness in the development of the individual and of
society.
65
Jung and others have argued that the patriarchal religion of Israel, continued
in Christianity, was associated with an important development of ethical
consciousness and the moral law, but that there was an over-reaction against
tendencies regarded as feminine, and an over-emphasis of the image of the
father. Jung suggests that there are serious limitations in the masculine
orientated tradition and doctrine of Judaism and Christianity. He considers
that there are processes at work in the individual and in society which tend to
correct and compensate one-sided, exclusive attitudes which have persisted, but
have become ill adapted, in the face of changed circumstances. The spontaneous
emergence of symbols is one way in which this necessary compensation is
effected. Tradition can be regarded not as the preservation of a rigidly static
state, but as a dynamic process in which, at different periods, different but
partial aspects of human experience are emphasised. Jung cites evidence of such
a compensatory process in Christian history. He points to orthodox and
heretical movements which have increasingly emphasised the feminine element and
have led up to the widespread popular devotions to our Lady. He sees a
psychological need for God himself to be feminised, he maintains that wholeness
comes only from a balance of equal personalities not achieved by Mary’s
subordination to the masculine Trinity, and he welcomes the papal definition of
the Assumption of our Lady which, he considers, paves the way for her ultimate
recognition as a goddess! Jung discusses the image of Christ as a symbol of an
androgynous wholeness, in which the division and polarity of sex is
transcended. He points out that the Church is the Body of Christ and quotes,
with favour, theological writers who consider that the celibate, virgin priest
symbolises the androgynous nature of Christ and his Church. He does not comment
upon the question of whether or not a priesthood which includes both men and
women might represent this union of male and female.
66 It
is possible to interpret symbolical data in many different ways, especially
when material is selected from the wide fields of comparative mythology and
religion. In both liturgical and pastoral activities a priest overtly and
covertly communicates to his congregation conceptions of God, Christ, and the
Church which are mediated by diverse images including those of father, mother,
brother, sister, husband, wife, lover and beloved. There is relatively little
exact knowledge about this process or about its effects, and members of this
Commission can do little more than speculate. In later chapters, different
lines of argument will be developed but it is inevitable that these will be
influenced, at least to some extent, by personal assumptions and emotional
bias; perhaps, even, they will be tinged with prejudice.
VI. Prejudice and the ordination of women
67
Prejudice not infrequently operates in arguments both for and against the
ordination of women. An opinion is prejudiced when it is preconceived and
maintained without adequate consideration of the evidence for and against it;
the view is tenaciously held as if it represents incontrovertible fact and not
an idea, hypothesis or theory to be examined, questioned and tested. Prejudice
refers to the way in which a person or group resists any change in a point of
view, and it does not imply that the judgment itself is necessarily irrational
or false. The bias is indicated by the method of argument and the emotional
expressions which accompany it.
68 A
prejudiced person refuses, or is unable, to admit the force of evidence which
is not in accordance with his belief. He cannot modify his opinion and, when
this is threatened, he tends to resort to direct or indirect expressions of
aggression and hostility, frequently employing an argumentum ad hominem.
Psychological imputations are not infrequently used in this way: ‘ It is
just that you are scared of women’ or ‘ You are eaten up by your envy
of men ’. An effective way of concealing prejudice in oneself is to
attribute it to others; the intransigent conservative is an easy target but the
persistent radical, reformer or rebel can be just as prejudiced. In this
section rather more emphasis is put upon prejudice against the ordination of
women than upon irrational demands for it but this is only because it seems
more important to concentrate upon the possible effects of an important
innovation.
69 The
strong emotive resistance against modifying a viewpoint is often well concealed
by specious argument; supporting evidence is skilfully selected and distasteful
facts are ignored or explained away. Dogmatism, with a reluctance to qualify
statements, is a common feature of marked prejudice, but an appearance of
impartiality is a subtle means of protecting a cherished standpoint. The note
of scientific detachment which is evident in some parts of this chapter may be
regarded by some readers as a mere appearance of objectivity which but thinly
covers a preconceived, and emotionally determined, attitude towards the
ordination of women. As we tend to be unaware of the existence of our own
prejudices, the best we can do is to remember the possibility that they exist,
to scrutinise the evidence repeatedly, to listen attentively to others, and to
pay careful attention to the occurrence in ourselves of emotions such as
anxiety, anger and distaste.
70
Experimental work suggests that much prejudice is learnt. A child learns his
social role from his immediate family, teachers and other authority figures. He
mimics the prejudices of his culture and sub-culture towards out-groups, i.e.
groups of people who differ from his own in-group. The most potent factor in
maintaining prejudice is the tendency to maintain unaltered modes of thought
and behaviour which are entrenched by years of imitation and repetition. These
long-standing patterns or habits are resistant to change, especially if they
are reinforced by rewards, such as economic advantage or social prestige.
Assumptions about male dominance, or militant feminist attitudes, can be firmly
entrenched by the mores and traditions of the family and of other social
groups, which are often acquired in early life.
71 The
nature and extent of prejudice depends upon many complex features of the
cultural milieu, e.g. the degree of rigidity and flexibility of social roles
and the existence of specially privileged in-groups. There is evidence, too,
that it is more likely to be associated with certain types of personality. It
is said that prejudice is likely to be strong in people who are hostile and
aggressive, lonely and deprived, and who feel themselves to be failures.
Certain constellations of traits have been described by psychologists, such as
the ‘ conventional’ person, who craves orderliness and familiarity;
the ‘ manipulative’ person, who eschews emotion and treats people in
an administrative fashion as if they were things; and the ‘ authoritarian
’ person, who is afraid of his own weakness and seeks security by
assertion and submission within a hierarchical order.
72
There does not appear to be any definite evidence about the distribution and
nature of prejudice for or against the ordination of women. It would be of
interest to investigate how it correlates with personality types,
churchmanship, social class, education and family pattern. It could represent a
general resistance to any change in a state of affairs to which the person is
accustomed, a more limited prejudice about the proper social status and role of
women, or a very specific emotive reaction aroused by the notion of women
priests.
73
There is little doubt that very powerful feelings are evoked. Not infrequently
reactions to the suggestion that women should be admitted to Holy Orders are
expressed in extreme terms, denoting horror and repugnance (‘
disgusting’,‘ unthinkable ’, ‘ revolting ’, ‘
shameful’, ‘ the idea makes me feel sick ’) and it seems
probable that there are powerful, unconscious, or unadmitted, motives at work.
In the absence of reports of careful investigations, interpretation can at best
be very tentative. It can only be based upon observations made in similar, but
not identical, situations. The following illustrations are intended only to
indicate some possible mechanisms. The cynic might maintain that some
analytical formulations beg many questions and can be invoked to explain, or
explain away, any point of view. It is important to remember that a motive (or
prejudice) is not a criterion of the truth or falsity of the opinion to which
it leads. An argument against the ordination of women is not invalidated by the
mere fact that its advocate is terrified of being dominated by a mother figure.
The following examples of a few psychological factors which can maintain
prejudice are typical of patterns which have been carefully elucidated in
clinical situations over long periods. They are not presented as inclusive
general explanations, but they are, in my view, useful descriptions of
psychological phenomena which occur in some people.
74 It
seems probable that many passionate reactions to the suggestion of ordaining
women are associated with disturbing experiences of the mother during infancy
and childhood. Desires and fears which persist from early life can become
evident later in disturbed relationships with women. Women, especially if they
are in positions of authority, are experienced as mothers and excite emotions
similar to those aroused by early states of physical dependence, such as the
nursing situation. (It is of some interest that, in a sample of people
questioned about their views on the ordination of women, a number of those who
were intolerant of the suggestion objected most strongly to a woman giving food
at Holy Communion: ‘ Just imagine a woman giving you bread and saying,
“ This is my body ”.’ Some of the replies suggested the
occurrence of anxiety about aggressive sensations and fantasies aroused by
unsatisfactory, early, oral relationships with the mother.) The wish for
gratifying emotions of bodily security is, sometimes, partially expressed in
substitute ways: by a return, in fantasy, to the womb of Mother Church or by
devotion to the ideal, perfect, Mother of God. A woman priest could satisfy
this need for dependence, for some people. But more commonly the overt
expression of dependence is avoided in relationships with actual women, who are
feared as being possessive, destructive or rejecting. The power of women is
more likely to arouse anxiety in men and hence they must be dominated and
relegated to inferior positions. ‘ Woman ’, as an image or an
embodiment of a principle, might be idealised; but actual women are devalued or
attacked in covert ways.
75 In
early childhood, magical and animistic thinking is common. It is tempting to
compare some of the attitudes towards women priests with the awe and fear of
feminine functions, evident in the taboos with which non-literate peoples
surround such unclean and dangerous events as menstruation and childbirth. Some
fantasies are reminiscent of the myths of the Mother Goddess who embodied not
only the fruitful and creative, but also the destructive and death-dealing,
aspects of nature. The Jewish rejection of these nature religions and their
priestesses has been regarded by some writers as being analogous to the
development of an adolescent by an emancipation from a state of infantile
dependence; but, it is argued, a mature independence is not characterised by an
anxiety-ridden exclusion of feminine representations in religion. It can be
claimed on the one hand that a woman priest would tend to promote and maintain
childish dependent attitudes or, on the other hand, that the exclusion of women
from the priesthood represents an immature reaction against a fear of women and
mothers.
76 In
Sections I and II mention was made of the envy of the biological qualities and
social status of the opposite sex. A woman might demand ordination because of
her sense of deprivation and her resentment of a man’s bodily features and
social prestige. A man who has conscious or unconscious anxiety about
castration often feels threatened by women and compensates for his fear by
contempt, treating the female sex as if they were maimed men. A woman is
regarded as being unfit to be a priest, just as a eunuch or a man with severe
corporeal infirmity is held to be incapable of receiving Holy Orders. The
situation is complicated by a man’s envy of her ability to bear children,
for which he might find some substitute in the motherly aspects of the pastoral
role and such ‘ feminine ’ expressions as ceremonial and ritual
dress. The woman who accepts her ‘ fate’ of anatomical and social
inferiority, and represses her guilt at wishing to be otherwise, sometimes
exaggerates her femininity, and adores the male who is dominant. She resents
and deprecates other women who do not do likewise and who threaten the
roundabout symbolical satisfaction of incestuous desires, which can be achieved
in the relationship with a father-priest. Thus some arguments in favour of the
ordination of women can be motivated by deep-seated envy, whereas opposition to
the suggestion can spring from the anxiety associated with an image of a woman
as a man manque.
77
Adult, genital, sexual feeling is a factor in the relationship of the priest
and parishioner, and perhaps it is more important and widespread than is
sometimes suggested. It operates not only in the intimate contact of the
pastoral situation, but also in the more impersonal setting of ritual. Such
feeling, heterosexual and homosexual, is doubtless a vital factor in attitudes
towards the sex of the priest. An argument advanced against the ordination of
women is that in public worship men are less likely to distract and stimulate
the congregation sexually. The evidence regarding sexual differences in this
respect is scanty. It suggests that, on the average, men are more quickly
aroused than women and respond to a wider variety of symbolic stimuli. Yet
certain stimuli arouse women more readily than men. The variations within each
sex seem to be so great, however, as to make generalisations of little value.
Nevertheless it is possible that anxieties about the consequences of sexual
arousal are significant in some violent expressions of prejudice.
78 If
it is true that the question of the ordination of women touches upon powerful,
unconscious motives, then this innovation might have profound effects which are
difficult to predict.
Contents of “Women and Holy
Orders
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