If you believe it’s sexist for a woman to have the option to give her life to God, I suspect there’s not much that can be said to convince you ...
A reader alerted me to this last night over on X:
Perhaps a stupid question but uh does anyone seriously ague that Catholic nuns are not part of an overt patriarchy in which women have fewer rights than men? https://t.co/EYg222tlQf
— Jill Filipovic (@JillFilipovic) August 11, 2026
The tweet came in the midst of some threads in recent days over a video of a woman in full hijab at a beach, accompanied by her husband.
Filipovic digs in in a follow-up, writing:
My argument isn’t that the hijab isn’t sexist; I think basically all religious “modestly” requirements that only apply to women are sexist! My point is that “well nuns wear the habit” doesn’t really refute accusations of sexism. The Catholic Church is very famously sexist.
One wonders what the nuns did to get thrown into this mix. They were minding their own business, freely living their lives, choosing their vows freely. (And, yes, probably currently hot in their habits, hopefully able to enjoy some air conditioning.) I’m sure there are some scenarios elsewhere in the world where a woman may be coerced into such a life, but most of the Catholic sisters I know go through years of prodding — discernment and formation — to make sure they are freely choosing God’s will for them, fully aware of its requirements and the sacrifices involved.
Here, I tried to give a little window into one of the most important days of three of their lives.
Usually the place to begin such conversations is to make an introduction to Mary. Whatever you believe about Christianity, it involves God asking a young Nazarene woman to freely choose to be at the center of His salvation-history story.
Filipovic undoubtedly is aware. An NYU and NYU law graduate, it’s even possible she ran into a Sister of Life or two on the streets of Manhattan, with or without realizing it. They have a convent not too far from the law school — one where they have moms and babies living with them, in fact, as the moms get on a trajectory to long-term success.
If you believe it’s sexist for a woman to have the option to choose to give her life over to God for His use, I suspect there’s nothing much that can be said to convince you otherwise.
But I do pray she has the chance to spend some time around the Sisters of Life in particular. Freedom. Joy. Wisdom. Courage. Gratitude. They certainly have a different view of Catholicism than she currently has.
There’s something immensely liberating about seeing the world as it is and choosing to live for eternity in a rigorous way, for love of God, while so many are suffering actual enslavement to expectations that immiserate the human person.
Check out the Let Love podcast from the Sisters of Life.
Consider praying the Litany of Trust, written by one of the sisters. Or listening to it:
Neither is a demonstration of sexism, but fulfillment in the fullest freedom: being who God created you to be. They are at least trying, with His grace!
As I only began to note in my syndicated column this week, nuns are having a bit of a moment — there was a New York Times profile of one community in California, and I didn’t make up the phrase “Nun Girl Summer” to describe a Dominican sisters’ podcast, Cosmo did. But if you pay attention long enough, you see the culture pays attention in cycles — yes, because it’s a little exotic, but also because, frankly, people see something of what we want in life. Not celibacy and obedience so much as love and joy and, yes, freedom. Libertinism isn’t the same thing.
I wish Montse Alvarado had time to debate the sexism of the Catholic Church while she packs to move to Rome to take over a Vatican dicastery (she was just meeting with the pope, among others, recently) — the first for a laywoman. If only the church were sexist, she would have had a proper summer vacation!
Pope Leo XIV met with the newly appointed Prefect of the Dicastery for Communication, Ms. Maria Montserrat Alvarado, this morning. Appointed on June 2 this year, Alvarado will start her new role on November 1. pic.twitter.com/k77UmXJvd2
— Vatican News (@VaticanNews) August 3, 2026
And in case you haven’t had enough links yet, here’s a recent conversation I had with another woman silenced down by the patriarchy (please excuse the sarcasm), author Bronwen McShea, a former student of Catholic intellectual and Princeton legend Robert P. George (please forgive him for being a man?) about women in the church:
