ABSTRACT
Feminism, states Daphne Hampson, represents the death-knell of Christianity as a viable religious option. Feminism has thus contributed to the development of post-Christian and post-traditional theologies, which encompass a range of different trajectories. The Christological drama could be read as providing a theological symbol-story of redeemed identity; on this premise, the contours of the story allow for women to write themselves into that redemption of identity, because it is rich with symbolisms resonating with accounts of female identity under patriarchy. The crucifixion is the paradigmatic wound at the centre of Christian theology. If crucifixion can represent on the one hand women's bodily denigration, material abuses and objectification, the tomb can represent on the other hand women's place in the symbolic order. The masculinity of Christ in a phallogocentric economy is as much a problem for men, who are hence impoverished with respect to resources for escape from the prison of unitary self-identity imposed by patriarchy.
