The Laywoman Project

January 20, 2020
In this thoughtful analysis, historian Henold (Catholic and Feminist) considers ways Catholic laywomen who did not identify as feminist approached and responded to the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) and to rapidly changing gender norms in the United States during the 1960s and ’70s. Drawing on the documentary records of four organizations for Catholic laywomen, and the contents of the Catholic periodical Marriage, the author considers how laywomen spoke and wrote about themselves in relation to the church, about their identities as women, and how their ideas changed over time in response to the progressive reforms of Vatican II. Through church writings, Henold explores how some laywomen embraced Vatican II as an opportunity to shift toward increasingly bold self-advocacy; some laywomen chose a more moderate path of reforms; and some rejected both secular and religious liberalization in favor of resolute conservatism. For instance, the Theresians of America “chose to revive a much more ‘traditional’ definition of Catholic womanhood firmly rooted in essentialism.” And while the Theresians took a stark conservative stance to the opening up of the Catholic church, the National Council of Catholic Women underwent a “nascent feminism,” which proved problematic for some members. Henold provides a nuanced picture of a group of Catholics whose spiritual practices have often been overlooked.