Can the Marian Library Support Instruction in Women's and Gender Studies?

Yes!

For example...

It is tempting to say that everything in the Marian Library collection is relevant to this field, since so much of our collection is about the particular interest that women and men (as individuals and as groups) have had in Mary, a woman who has become a potent and multivalent symbol.

One example: The Sutton File—a reference file of clippings from newspapers, primarily from the second half of the twentieth century—includes materials on “Mary-like dress” and standards of modesty in dress, a topic that is also discussed in the context of Our Lady of Fatima. The Sutton File is a thoroughly indexed file that includes tens of thousands of clippings, primarily from Catholic newspapers and magazines. It is accessible upon visit only.

One collecting area in the Marian Library is literature on or about Christian feminism, as in works providing historical, philosophical, and theological perspectives on women.

Gender and the body may be discussed around images and texts about healing miracles, the experiences of visionaries, and the history of asceticism.

The rules and constitutions of religious orders can provide some information about the history of how these communities functioned. The Marian Library collects such documents for orders with a strong Marian charism.

The Marian Library holds many images of Maria lactans. The Marian Library has several images of breastfeeding hanging right in the Reading Room.

_{"The Holy Family” (St. Anne’s Threesome) detail. Artist unknown.}