Beyond God the Father: Toward a Philosophy of Women's Liberation is a theological work by feminist philosopher Mary Daly. First published in 1973 and revised in 1993, Beyond God the Father argues that society should stop using misogynistic terms (He, Father, etc.) to refer to the ultimate being. She believes this is necessary because referring to God as a male-being implicitly elevates the value of men above women. As she previously wrote: "If God is male, then male is God."
Thus Daly believes that a necessary step in the women's liberation movement is to refer to God--not as a noun--but as a verb: a transcendent "be-ing" rather than a man. Failing to remove misogynistic terminology from religion would render women incapable of ever gaining full religious equality. By extension, women should participate in the power of "be-ing;" they should liberate words and terms from their patriarchal pasts and re-appropriating them to create a new, non-patriarchal system of society.
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