Something Wicked
Why Feminism Can't Be Fused with Christianity
by Carrie Gress
The culture wars have raged for decades, but with seemingly little success. Christians are losing the cultural battle for family, life, and faith. But why?
In this riveting look at the underbelly of feminism, Dr. Carrie Gress lays out why pro-life and pro-family efforts have failed to deliver. Feminism has quietly captured the minds and hearts of women by mimicking aspects of Christianity. Through its own “commandments,” “virtues,” “evangelization,” and even “a sacrament,” feminism has become an exceedingly powerful megachurch.
While Christians have targeted the specific products of the feminist ideology, such as abortion and transgenderism, we have missed the bigger picture of how feminism’s shadow church has captured the psyche of Western women.
Feminism is all too often perceived, even among Christians, as something virtuous that affords women true equality and freedom. Dr. Gress overturns this misconception, smashing the idol of feminism and exposing its deeply anti-Christian origins.
Drawing from history, psychology, philosophy, culture, and common sense, Dr. Gress explains:
- How early feminists opposed traditional Christianity and espoused occultic practices
- Six ways feminism has become its own religion that mimics the Christian faith
- Why the feminist idol of women’s autonomy can never lead to happiness
- How the prioritization of masculine virtues devalued the vital gifts of women
- What happens when Christians try to blend their faith with feminism
- Why the restless search for identity by many adrift in culture is really a grasping for home
- The vital role that men and the patriarchy play in meeting the needs of all of society
Dr. Gress lays out solutions to how womanhood can be viewed afresh, without feminism’s menace, healing the ever-growing rift between the sexes, reconnecting the essential bond of empathy between mother and child, and restoring God to his rightful place in the hearts of all women.
Endorsements
“Cultural history has a notable, and highly readable, contribution in Dr. Carrie Gress’s latest book, Something Wicked. Gress achieves the rare balance of documenting sources clearly, yet effortlessly. This is critical: the reader can check any assertion by referring to the sources. Too many studies of the last fifty years, including those by feminists, skimp on documentation, or load the notes with citations that prove to be irrelevant to the point being asserted. One shouldn’t have to blindly accept the author’s word, and Gress respects the reader’s option to check it.”
Dr. Catherine Brown Tkacz, Professor at the Bishop White Seminary in Spokane, WA, Ukrainian Catholic University, Lviv, and Member of the Vatican Commission on the Study of Female Deacons
“This book is exactly what has been missing. For years I’ve been unsettled by the persistence of feminism in its many disguises: ‘conservative,’ ‘religious, ‘maternal.’ Carrie Gress exposes the very thing I struggled to define. Reading this book, I found myself exclaiming repeatedly: “Yes! That’s it!” With her unmatched command of philosophy and history, and her unparalleled grasp of contemporary culture, Carrie Gress bridges these worlds with a clarity not yet seen. In Something Wicked, she weaves them together into a sharp, unflinching account of where and why feminism began, how it has shifted, what it looks like today, and the damage it has wrought. While this is written from a Catholic perspective, it applies just as well to me as a Jewish antifeminist, recognizing the same dangerous trends spreading in modern Jewish orthodox communities. This is a foundational work for anyone committed to resisting feminism. A necessary weapon in the fight against a dangerous ideology which, if we are ever to root it out, must first be properly identified. This book does exactly that.”
Dr. Hannah Spier, Psychiatrist, Psychobabble
“What does feminism have to do with Christianity? Rather than seeing motherhood as the central gift of civilization, the feminist founders and their progeny saw motherhood as enslavement. In this rich book, Carrie Gress articulately argues that feminism is a modern heresy, which cannot be combined with Christianity.”
Duncan Stroik, Professor, University of Notre Dame
“Weaving personal anecdotes and interdisciplinary scholarship into a captivating narrative, Carrie Gress unveils the breathtaking panorama of miseries that feminism has wrought over the last two centuries on men, women, and children. Skillfully marshaling the evidence, she courageously confronts what may turn out to be the most dangerous form of mimetic rivalry that threatens the very future of humanity. Is there still hope? Read this book and find out.”
Fr. Elias Carr, Can.Reg., Author, I Came to Cast Fire: An Introduction to René Girard
“In Something Wicked, Carrie Gress grapples with a difficult question that looms over much of our public discourse, theological concerns, and everyday relationships. She makes important philosophical distinctions and clarifications about how we as the Church, as men and women of faith, can work together to support and heal the family, which Pope John Paul II called the cornerstone of all of society.”
Fr. Jerome Magat, S.T.D., Vice Rector and Professor of Moral Theology, St. Patrick’s Seminary, Menlo Park, CA
“Carrie Gress’s many insights into the darker side of feminism, and its consequences for women’s health and happiness alone, are eye-opening; nor does she flinch from addressing its impact on children, families, and society at large. This brave, inspiring book needs to be widely read and discussed.”
Iain McGilchrist, Author, The Matter with Things and The Master and His Emissary
“In a calm and clear-eyed refutation, Carrie Gress shows how feminism has erected an alternative faith that is both incompatible with core Christian doctrines and profoundly damaging to the fabric of Christian communities. Deeply researched and engaging, this book will arm Christian readers against feminism’s seductive lies.”
Janice Fiamengo, Retired Professor of English, University of Ottawa, Canada
“Something Wicked is both a godsend and a tour de force. It dispels the myths and nonsense surrounding the cult of feminism and exposes feminism’s poisonous roots. Why does feminism surrender womanhood to faux masculinity, turning women into second-rate men? Why does it butcher motherhood and childhood in the name of a false and fake freedom? These questions are answered definitively as Carrie Gress shows how feminism is ‘something wicked.’”
Joseph Pearce, The Quest for Shakespeare and The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful
“Dr. Carrie Gress has her masterpiece, Something Wicked. Deftly blending stories as diverse as the meaning of Duncanson’s paintings; The Wizard of Oz’s Dorothy, clicking her red shoes extolling “There is no place like home”; and When Harry Met Sally’s near perfect description of the love of a woman, it reads like your favorite movie.”
Ken Ferguson, Award-Winning Filmmaker, Producer, and Screenplay Writer
“I’ve spent four decades empowering women to love God’s gift of femininity. Feminism does not elevate its adherents, it embitters and isolates. I truly believe family is the highest form of government. Therefore it is not surprising that the enemy of our souls would weave elaborate and perverse lies to deconstruct the sacred union of male and female and tear apart the healthy essence of family.”
Lisa Bevere, NYT bestselling author of Fight for Female, Co Founder of Messenger International
“Carrie Gress’s book Something Wicked thoroughly rebukes feminism and its anti-Christian roots. Gress illustrates that feminism is an ideology incompatible with Christianity and outlines how the feminist vision was always to target and destroy Christianity, to deform Christian culture, and to supplant Christianity. This helpful book illustrates how feminism deforms Christian culture, and it outlines a Christian response to this toxic ideology’s infiltration of the west.”
Marcella Burke, Managing Partner and Founder, Burke Law Group
“If you think feminism can be squared with Christianity, this book will make you think again. In Something Wicked, Carrie Gress lays bare its roots and fruits, showing it for the rival faith it really is. She’s the one who changed my mind on feminism—and I suspect she’ll change yours too.”
Matt Fradd, Pints with Aquinas