Mary Daly and Boston College

As the topic in this week's reading regarding Country Women and lesbian separatism relates to my potential thesis topic regarding radical feminism,  I decided to find articles relating to theologian Mary Daly's decision to not allow male students into her upper-division women's studies courses at Boston College in 1998. I wasn't able to find many primary-source articles, it seems as if the mainstream press mostly ignored the case, despite the fact that she was the most influential feminist theologian alive. However, many from a conservative religious perspective chronicled the events of the lawsuit. One particular piece titled "Law Firm Forces Mary Daly's Hand" from the National Catholic Reporter is noticeably unbiased, and details Daly's perspective on Boston College.

When looking for a secondary source article I found was an opinion piece from the Boston Globe in 1999 titled "Daly's Disservice To Our Daughters," a piece written by Joan Vennochi who posits that "real" feminism teaches women to compete with men instead of claiming their own "turf."She therefore concludes that Daly's advocacy for female-only space is "old-fashioned" and detrimental to women.

When comparing the primary and secondary sources surrounding the lawsuit, I don't think its coincidence that the right-wing newspapers appeared impartial while many self-appointed feminists wrote against Daly's decision. Knowing that the law would most likely fall in favor of Boston College, Catholic newspapers did not feel the need to make a strong case against Daly. However, so called feminists writing on the topic desired to distance themselves from one of the most radical feminists of their time, in order to come off as less threatening than lesbian separatists.

Reading through several other articles about her late in life and her death, I also became aware of the irony of several of her obituaries being written by men; a male summarizing and making value claims on the life of a lesbian separatist only further vindicated Daly's decision to create female-only space.