"In this millennial Madeleva Lecture, Sandra Schneiders takes a long and clarifying look at feminism - both its impact on the past and its promise for the future. She explores some of its deeply transformative effects on twentieth-century American culture and on the postconciliar Church. While Schneiders touches on a wide range of topics, including women's emergence in the world of athletics and education and the greater role of women in the Church, she pays particular attention to the unique impact that women's Religious Life had in facilitating the transformation. Drawing on the insights of feminist thinkers and the biblical tradition, the author suggests how a Gospel-informed feminism can offer a new vision of humanity, Church, and world for a new century."--Jacket.