Hi Clair,

Thanks for the question.

Mary is a liberating symbol for women today because she represents:

• liberation from sin, as well as
• authentic femininity

Like men, women need to be liberated from sin today (as in every age). She shows us an example of total receptivity and obedience to God.

With respect to authentic femininity, she represents an embrace of that characteristic of femininity par excellence: motherhood. She is the true mother, welcoming her child, nurturing Him and devoting her life to Him.

If you are looking to Mary as a symbol of sexual liberation, however, you are looking in the wrong place. Mary, being a virgin all her life, is hardly a sign of sexual liberation.

In the context of feminism, sexual liberation also tends to imply sexual immorality (pre-marital sex, remarriage, and contraception), of which Mary is the antithesis. She is also the antithesis of abortion, a violation of the motherhood essential to femininity but a sacrament to many feminists. She pursues humility, not power; she trusts in God, not in political movements.

Mary does represent authentic femininity and feminine genius and, as the most perfect creature, she is superior to all men and even angels but she is the opposite of the philosophy of popular feminism today.

Nonetheless I like to think of her as the true feminist.

• So, if women look to the Scriptures, study the image of Mary there and follow it, they will find liberation.
• If, however, they want to form Mary in the image of modern feminism for the sake of promoting a human philosophy, they would be mistaken.

Eric