Bogoslovska smotra, Vol. 83 No. 1, 2013.
Review article
The Social and Ethical Significance of the »Genius of Woman« and Its Fundamental Characteristics
Marijo Volarević
orcid.org/0000-0002-5986-2225
; Catholic Faculty of Theology, University of Split, Split, Croatia
Abstract
In the four parts of this article the author tries to reflect on the ethical dimension of the »genius of woman«, especially in its importance for the contemporary society. It is a society which is strongly influenced by the ethical individualism, relativism, consumerism, and hedonistic culture, and, as such, it is in a real danger to lose sight of what is the most important; the human being herself/himself. In the first part, the author engages in a critical reflection on the historically marginal social position of women. By comparing it with the contemporary social position of women, which is significantly better (although still not good enough), the author points out that there is still a strong need for the rehabilitation of women in society; that is, the need for a stronger affirmation of women's distinctiveness and specificity. Through her specificity based on her »genius« the woman, as the author points out in the second part of the article, can contribute significantly to a needed social and ethical renewal. In that context, the author specifies in the third and the fourth part of the article exactly what is the social and ethical significance of the »genius of woman« and what are its main characteristics. In that effort, he mainly relies on a number of texts written by John Paul II and Benedict XVI., and he approaches them by using an analytic-synthetic method.
Keywords
society; ethics; patriarchy; emancipation; »woman's genius«; love
Hrčak ID:
99338
URI
Publication date:
27.3.2013.
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