When: 8pm, Saturday 7th week (13th June)
Where: Staircase 8 (Lecture Theatre), Pembroke College

For the final QSC discussion of the year, we’ll get a fascinating insight into the work done by one of our regulars, theologian Raphael Cadenhead. In his own words…

“My thesis was an effort to construct ‘transgendered theology’ by looking at the way Christ’s body and gender have been configured and scripted in Christian discourse. The assumption, here, is that Christ’s body (for Christians) should say something important about OUR bodies, and also about the kind of bodies we will inhabit at the resurrection! What I argued in my thesis, was that Christ’s gender is malleable and very fluid indeed. For this reason, the transsexual body becomes a sort of privileged body (theologically-speaking), because it echoes the interplay of gender enacted on the surface of Christ’s body.”

Raphael will give a presentation on his thesis in a way which is accessible to non-theologians (i.e. most of us!). Afterwards there’ll be the opportunity to ask him questions, and from here we’ll lead into a more general discussion about religion and (trans)gender. How do different religions understand gender? To what extent do they present traditional or progressive interpretations of gender? How does this affect people in their daily lives?

All views welcome! And as always there will be biscuits and drinks.

Some optional - but interesting - reading:

Transgender spirituality in the world faiths
http://www.transpiritual.com/index.html

The Hindu tradition of Hijras, a third sex
http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/hijras.html

On Thai “ladyboys”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathoey

Cherie weighs in on Religion vs. Women’s Rights (curiously filed by the Guardian under “immigration policy”…)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2007/oct/31/immigrationpolicy.gender

A more academic approach to culture, religion and women’s rights
http://icon.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/1/4/663.pdf

Any questions, get in touch with us at milan.terlunen@magd.ox.ac.uk or kirsten.elliott@stcatz.ox.ac.uk