Prie katalikiškojo feminizmo ištakų Lietuvoje
About the origins of catholic feminism in Lithuania

Summary/Abstract: The aim of this article is to present an interpretation of Catholic feminism (also known as Christian feminism) in the Lithuanian Catholic women's newspapers Lietuvaitė (Lithuanian girl), Moteris (Woman) and Naujoji Vaidilutė (New Priestess) during the first four decades of the 20th century. While in the beginning the discourse in these journals can be considered one of the most feminist among Catholic women in Europe, later, in the 1930s, it developed along the standard patterns of Catholic Action. The rather conservative International Union of Catholic Women's Leagues had a strong impact on Lithuanian Catholic women's discourse. Catholic feminism stressed women's duties to the family and society and thus also their responsibilities. This was the middle way between liberal feminism, which emphasized the rights of individual women, and socialist thought where women were formally equal to men but disadvantaged by the double burden of work. Lithuanian Catholic women maintained a balance between accepting the traditional role of the mother and embracing feminist aspirations. Even though in some respects Lithuanian women were constrained by Catholic traditions, they were not impeded by them and managed to raise questions of importance to women. They were able to extend the woman's sphere beyond the family to include the Church and society.

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