Mary Daly
(1928 - living) U.S.A.
Feminist, theologian and writer
Born in Schenectady, New York. Daly was educated at the College of St Rose where she gained a BA in 1950. She then attended the Catholic University of America, reveiving an MA in 1952, and completed PhD at St Mary's College, Notre Dame, Indian in 1954. From 1954 until 1949 she was a teacher of theology and philosophy at Cardinal Cushing College, Massachusetts.
Between 1959 and 1966 she taught on the Junior Year Abroad programmes at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland where she also gained a STD in 1963 and a PhD in 1965. Since 1969 she has taught theologu at Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. In 1968 Daly published The Church and the Second Sex, that in its critique of women's subordinate role within the church led to Daly's dismissal from her teaching post at Boston College.
The oppression of of women and hostility towrds homosexuality are connected: they reflect "anxiety over losing power that is based upon sex role stereotyping". Therefore homosexuality is considered a problem, and gay and lesbian relationships are not seen as authentic relationships.
Her jubilant embrace of a women-centered universe, exuberantly divergent use of language, and trenchant critique of the role of women within institutionalized religion have made her one of the key lesbian theoreticians and writers of the late 20th century.
Source: excerpts from: Gabriele Griffin, Who's Who in Lesbian and Gay and Writing, Routledge, London, 2002
and from: Aldrich R. & Wotherspoon G., Who's Who in Contemporary Gay and Lesbian History, from WWII to Present Day, Routledge, London, 2001
Books:
- Natural Knowledge of God in the Philosophy of Jacques Maritain (1966)
- The Church and the Second Sex (1968)
- Beyond God the Father: Toward a Philosophy of Women's Liberation (1973)
- Gyn/Echology: The Metaethics of Radical Feminism (1978)
- Pure Lust: Elemental Feminist Philosophy (1984)
- Webster's First New Intergalactic Wickedary of the English Language (1987)
- Outercourse: The Be-dazzling Voyage (1993)
- Quintessence... Realizing the Archaic Future. A Radical Elementa (1998)
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