bell hooks’ Sisterhood Model: An Integration of Religious Congregations and Women’s Advocacy in the Philippines

Abstract

In the Philippines, Catholic religious sisters serve their communities as teachers, nurses, leaders, and companions, as a commitment to their chosen vocations. While their acts of service and charity is a sincere commitment to Gospel, their identities continue to be veiled and shaped by the enduring image of a Madonna: a symbol of womanhood inspired in the figure of Mary characterized by purity, chastity, obedience, and maternal devotion. This image, although revered, also places expectations on how sisters are seen and see themselves creating tension between ecclesial identity and public advocacy. This study explores how Filipino Catholic sisters reconcile traditional Marian ideas with emerging forms of feminist agency. Through the lens of bell hooks’ Sisterhood Model, and Luce Irigaray’s Strategic Essentialism, this research explores how religious sisters engage in this negotiation without fully abandoning their ecclesial identity. By employing a feminist power analysis, the study examines how power—expressed through formation systems, religious vows, and authority structures—shapes their roles and spiritual practices. The study utilizes qualitative interviews with two women from active religious congregations, centered in their lived experience as sites of institutional negotiation and feminist transformation. Findings show that these women viewed religious life as an awakening of consciousness with social concerns grounded on traditional symbols and doctrines, rather than as a life in seclusion