01/07/2026 18:30 - 19:30

HALL: Parenzo - A19

Contact: Segoloni S.

Chair: Bruckner I.

Christian tradition is built around shared symbols that always have gender implications depending on various factors. These symbols are internalised by men and women in such a way as to determine the representation of masculinity and femininity in people's self-awareness. This determination is particularly effective in the experience of believers, because it is linked to God himself without any awareness of the cultural elements involved. The panel aims to show the problematic nature of certain interpretations of Sacred Scripture that diminish or eliminate the role of women, and then move on to examine some female metaphors used to refer to the Church over the centuries (and still today) with the aim of showing how these metaphors and their use contribute to the establishment of a gender system that structurally excludes women from roles of responsibility, leadership, representation and authoritative speech.
The analyses presented will draw on exegesis, feminist philosophy and theology, as well as gender studies, which offer fundamental insights into language, gender representations and practices. Discovering that certain representations of the feminine and the masculine do not depend on revelation nor are they structural to religious experience will allow not only the purification (or eradication when necessary) of symbols, interpretations, doctrines, rituals, practices and institutions, but also the development of liberating representations of gender for all, more in line with the life-giving experience of the Gospel (for believers) or at least with its most evident values (for non-believers).