Gender Inequality in the Catholic Church Must Come to an End

Prepared for:

Dr. Jessica McCarthy

English 2880 Professor
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Prepared by:

Jessica Leath, English 2880 Student

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
November 20, 2016

Date:
To:

November 20, 2016

Dr. Jessica McCarthy
English 2880 Professor
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
From: Jessica Leath
English 2880 Student
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Subject: Repurposed Research Project Regarding the Gender Inequality Within the
Catholic Church
Attached is my repurposed research project regarding the gender inequality that the
Catholic Church has been condoning and creating since its existence. I completed the
tasks described in my proposal on November 3, 2016: familiarizing myself with my
audience and the usefulness of my product for this target audience, researching my topic,
and performing the objectives necessary to complete this project.
To carry out these tasks I preformed research to gather information pertaining to the
foundation of this on going tradition. I had to search through the Bible to find biblical
citations correlating to my topic in order to present a stronger argument.
The main finding I came across was the Biblical facts the Catholic Church has been
leaning on regarding their all male leadership have been interpreted completely wrong
and are outdated in todays modern society, where women have a right to education, right
to vote and a right to speak.
I appreciate your attention and I look forward to hearing what you recommend for further
editing my product. If you have any questions or comments, please contact Jessica Leath,
at bdc394@mocs.utc.edu or at (478) 747-3847.

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Table of Contents
Executive Summary.4
Introduction..............................................................................................................4
Research Methods4
Results4
Conclusions5
Recommendations.....................................................................................................5
Appendix5

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Executive Summary
Women have worked hard for centuries to gain the freedoms and rights they should have
been granted from the moment they were born. Looking back through history books, it is
obvious women have come a long way. They have achieved many triumphs, including
the right to go school, work, and vote. These are all huge accomplishments for the female
population, but there seems to be discrepancies when it comes to the amount of power
and leadership women can hold in the Catholic Church. The women who hold the
Catholic faith have every right, just as men do, to hold positions of ordained leadership in
their parishes. The reasoning and justification behind the lack of leadership roles for
women in Catholicism are falsely based on the importance of the physical representation
of a man, Jesuss choice of The Twelve men, and the effects of changing the tradition
that these Churches were built on. These long held traditions are often in conflict with the
culture that we live in today, which prides itself on equality. When comparing and
contrasting differing views there is evidence that when given equal opportunities as their
male counterparts, women have demonstrated that they are fully capable of fulfilling
leadership roles. It has not been brought to many peoples attention that women are being
treated unequal so the purpose of my project is to bring this fact to light.
Introduction
The target audience for my project is women around the world, especially women within
the Catholic Church. I chose this audience because Catholic women and women in
general need to stand up for the right to participate and lead within the Church in the
same capacity as men. Women should care that they are being discriminated against. If
the Church preaches about love and equality for all lives, then why are women being
treated with a different level of competency and acceptance within leadership
opportunities? Why can women not preach and lead a congregation? That is the root of
the issue and that is what my project addresses.
Research Methods
In order to complete this project I had to understand my audience and create a useful and
concise way of presenting the issue to them. When I pinpointed who my target audience
was, the I started to think about how they would be receive the message. Since my target
audience is made up of women I thought an aesthetically appealing graphic would be the
best way to present the information they need to know in order to make a change within
the Catholic Church. I also used the Eleventh Edition of Technical Communications by
Mike Markel as guidance on how to go about this project effectively.
Results
I have created a pamphlet to hand out that gives women the education they need to feel
worthy to obtain the same leadership opportunities men are currently allowed. If women
are educated and presented with the information to effectively combat against the archaic

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Church then I believe changes are more likely to be made. Within my informative
pamphlet I have drawn on evidence from the Bible and the misunderstandings that go
along with referencing to such old writings to refute the Catholic Churchs traditions.
Conclusion
The repurposed project educates and informs my target audience of the unacceptable
traditions that the Catholic Church has continued to implement in todays modern
society. They are completely out of date and disrespectful to the modern woman who has
been granted all rights as men, but denied the right to hold a leadership position in the
Catholic Church. I feel that my end product will be well received and convey the
importance of this issue. Just because this tradition has been held for centuries does not
mean women have to regard this inequality that humanity has just accepted as tradition.
Recommendations
An issue might arise when my pamphlet ends up in the hands of a priest or bishop. I went
to Catholic schools and Church since I was in kindergarten and the ordained men within
the Church are very close-minded when it comes to the history and tradition that they
have been preaching for years and years. My pamphlet does not give my reader all the
information they need to start an argument, but it definitely opens the readers mind up to
viewing this tradition as an injustice to women, which is my whole goal.
Appendix
See attached Word Document for Repurposed Research Project