Abstract
In discussions about violence, wars, and peacebuilding, we often hear essentialist arguments about women and men, equating men with masculine and women with feminine characteristics, while avoiding the acceptance that both genders contain both sets of traits, depending on how they are nurtured and exhibited. Socialization polarizes and solidifies essentialist views on gender roles, and any deviation from these norms is sanctioned through stigmatization and exclusion. However, the greatest male spiritual authorities in the world serve as examples of embracing the feminine within themselves, and it is this acceptance that makes them memorable and continues to inspire humanity today. Two such figures are Sultan Al-Kamil and Francis of Assisi, who, through the light of their faith, compassion, and the extended hand of dialogue and peace, demonstrated that the greatest courage is not to defeat the enemy by force, but to open one's heart to peace. The discursive femininity exhibited during their meeting is an extraordinary example of the testimony of the gift of responsibility they both showed as mature individuals and as believers.
Recommended Citation
Šiljak, Zilka Spahić
(2024)
"Discursive Femininity in the Encounter of Sultan Kamil and St. Francis,"
Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe: Vol. 44
:
Iss.
10
, Article 2.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.55221/2693-2229.2592
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/ree/vol44/iss10/2