Eve, Where Are You?: Confronting Toxic Practices Against the Advancement of Women by Nicole L. DavisMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I had an opportunity to read this book after reviewing another book on a similar topic: Women in the Bible: Interpretation: Resources for the Use of Scripture in the Church
In Part I, we find four (4) chapters that introduce “The Conflict” between women called to serve and the established patriarchy that frequently impedes that call. In chapter 2 the author looks at “The Struggle Between What I’m Competent to Do and What I’m Allowed to Do” before moving on the more traditional conflicts of men vs women and women vs women that I though were both interesting and insightful without being overly judgmental. Part 2, “The Explanation” takes on a bit more risk as the author uses psychological model theories to show why there might be so much resistance to change within the church. I enjoyed these four (4) chapters on identity, power, change and mental/psyche as much as the first four (4) and they seem to be solidly rooted in current theory. Up to now, the tone of the book was mostly encouragement/empowerment for women and instructional/explaining for men with something good for everybody. Part 3 may catch some a little off guard as the tone of "The Resolution" is a lot more aggressive and confrontational (especially given the bona fides of the author in conflict resolution). Perhaps that is what is needed if you are targeting people at the top of an organization ... but this part doesn't do much for those in organizations that are heavily hierarchical ... such as the Catholic Church ... and I didn't find much here that I could actually use in the trenches. While I can understand the frustration and impatience, in such organizations, the long game is needed more and that was unfortunately lacking here (I am talking generations in this case). Still, this is an important voice for understanding how we as church should evolve.
I was given this free advance reader copy (ARC) ebook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
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