'Something Wicked': A Thought-Provoking Read

 The new book by Carrie Gress challenged Maria V. Gallagher’s assumptions about female empowerment in the U.S. 

Something Wicked: Why Feminism Can't Be Fused with Christianity

By Carrie Gress

Published by Sophia Institute Press

When I was a little girl, the librarian in the children’s department encouraged me to read a book about an early leader of the feminist movement. I dutifully read it, not knowing that the featured woman was anti-Christian.

Something Wicked, a new book by Carrie Gress, Ph.D., has challenged many of my assumptions about female empowerment in the U.S. Gress, a professor at the Catholic University of America, has thoroughly researched the history of the feminist movement.

What she found, quite simply, shocked me.

I did not realize that so many of the early feminists were anti-Christian and involved in the occult. Later feminists were loyal members of the Communist Party. Their mindset was anti-Biblical and anti-Catholic.

Because of this, Gress argues that feminism cannot be fused with Christianity.

A Real Eye-Opener

This may be a shocking revelation to you, if you grew up at a time when feminism was synonymous with women’s basic rights. After all, who can argue against a woman’s right to vote or to own property? Women need to be respected both inside and outside the home.

And, Gress argues, it is the Church that can and should lead to such respect. On page 123, she notes that for women, “their career isn’t the most important thing in life; the unique call each of us has is.”

The arguments Gress makes are perhaps most effective when she is discussing abortion. It is a great tragedy of our time, and Gress makes the case that feminism fuels it. She notes that unborn children have become the scapegoats in our society. And that, in turn, has led to a host of other societal ills, from the rise in child abuse to attachment difficulties between mothers and children.

As someone who works full-time in the pro-life movement, I was particularly struck by something that Gress writes on page 143: “Pro-life efforts have often treated the symptoms of an abortion-minded culture, particularly on a practical level..”

We need to get to the root causes of abortion, and Gress argues persuasively that feminism is key among them.

Again, on page 143, Gress points out, “We have, however, a wonderful alternative: the Christian creed, which is free from the self-loathing of the female body, glorifying it in its dignity and marvels of fertility.”

Pope St. John Paul II may have led the way with his groundbreaking series of talks on the Theology of the Body. The fact that younger women — and men — are embracing this concept is a positive sign for the future.

A Path Forward

I do not think we should sugarcoat the difficulties women faced in the past. I know, for instance, that my mother was fired from her job when she was carrying me in her womb simply because she was pregnant. That kind of discrimination is loathsome and should not be tolerated in a civilized society.

But it is in the Church that women should be able to find the solace and support they need to fulfill their God-given calling. We each have a unique mission, assigned to us by the Lord Himself. We can find courage for the call by looking at saintly role models such as Saint Catherine of Siena, Saint Teresa of Avila, Saint Joan of Arc, Saint Teresa of Calcutta, and a host of others. They showed us what the feminine genius was truly all about.

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Copyright 2026 Maria V. Gallagher
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