A Woman's Journey from Christian Tradition to the Sacred Feminine

This was interesting but was not what i expected from the title. I have never read any books by Kidd but she was recommended by serveral people. I think that women who are in an oppressive state in their own faith communities can benefit from this book. It looks at why we allow oppression. There were pearls in the book that i will take with me, but the last section left me a little so so. Her journey leads to a spiritual status that seems to leave off everything but herself. Like it is all about me. Not sure i will read anything else by Kidd when there is so much to read and so little time.

Very moving and very thought provoking. As a man, I found this an articulate exposition of what we are missing in our patriarchal society. I hope Ms. Kidd's description of her journey will serve as a catalyst for other women and society as a whole to reclaim the power of the Feminine Divine.

I really enjoyed the first half of the book. For me, it got a little too feminist in the middle with things I personally couldn't relate to. I enjoyed the end and was happy that her quest to find herself did not mean the end of her marriage. I liked that her husband was able to discover some things about himself that he wanted to change. I think their marriage became stronger because of her journey and subquently his. I really enjoy Sue Monk Kidd's writing.

One of my favorite books of all time. Incredible insight and honesty. Every page was nourishing to my being. It will help thousands of women move from fundamentalism to spirituality.

Diane Cirincione, Ph.D.

This book is excellent reading for any woman who wants to open her world. I could hardly put the down as I identified
with the author. There was a sense of sadness when I completed reading the book. It has a special place in my book case.

One of the most transformative books I've ever read. My gut feelings were legitimized by the book. I was disappointed a little in the end (spoiler alert!) by the author receding back a bit into the patriarchal culture she was dissecting.

One of the most transformative books I've ever read. My gut feelings were legitimized by the book. I was disappointed a little in the end (spoiler alert!) by the author receding back a bit into the patriarchal culture she was dissecting.

This book about Sue's journey from her patriarchal Christian roots into a supportive, authentic, feminine-friendly Goddess spirituality was inspiring. What was most interesting for me was seeing how she got to where she was going despite where she came from, because her background is foreign to me. I was not raised in the church, and though our society upholds some of the same values her church did, patriarchy-wise, I don't think it was quite as damaging or as easily ingrained for me as it was for her. I didn't really find much in the book that was new to me as far as spiritual insights go, but at times it was a very emotional book for me to read because the depth of Sue's original wound and the lengths she went to to heal herself were very touching. The only thing I didn't really dig about it was how often she would describe a dream, a symbolic experience, or happening to see a television show or work of art, and then miraculously that symbol or message would turn out to have been "showing her something," so to speak. I see symbolic messages in everyday life and internalize them, but I tend to turn off a bit when someone describes the messages they receive as intentionally sent guideposts (though the book wasn't particularly heavy on that). I made notes of some of the really interesting points Sue made as I went along, and many of them were quite relatable to me as a woman living in a society that both operates under patriarchal perspectives and is in denial that it does so. Here are the points I made a note of:

1. Toward the beginning, Kidd describes a demeaning incident when two men pointed out her young daughter--who was on her knees stocking shelves--and joked that they love seeing a woman "on her knees." It was very telling to me that she pointed out that these men looked like everyone's father. Even people you respect and look up to might treat women this way, and they may start doing it to girls at a very young age.

2. The author describes giving birth to yourself in order to "get back to zero"--back to the beginning. I think this is a wise comment because we often try to go forward without unlearning the what we need to unlearn before we can learn.

3. In Christianity, Jesus is said to literally give his body as sustenance to his children. Kidd points out that it's odd that women who give birth and feed their children out of their very bodies are not thought at all divine for this. In fact, many aspects of it are considered shameful.

4. Kidd tells a story of how her daughter was so disappointed to find out women can't be ordained in their tradition. She was reminded of how she had a similar wound as a girl--when she and some boys were arguing about which of them is better, and the boys cited the Bible as proof that boys were better than girls, which their religious authority backed up by reassuring the boys that they were indeed created to be dominant while girls are created to be subordinate. I found this particularly poignant because I had a similar experience finding out girls couldn't participate in one of the traditions from my family, even though I wanted to grow up and do it like my daddy. But we have these early disappointments in our lives, accept them, and then go on to indoctrinate our daughters in traditions that will disappoint them.

5. One bit I thought she expressed really well here is how much emphasis is put on women defining themselves through subservience and selflessness--that she becomes a good and worthy woman through obedience and through putting herself last.

6. Sometimes women will argue that they are not being hurt and desire no change. Kidd replies "they are asleep," but takes this a step further, saying not only do they not see how they're hurt but they're desensitized to it.

7. Kidd made an interesting point about how language is "the word of fathers." And if you look at how language is masculine in so many ways, associating men's attributes with goodness and strength, you realize that this is what women learn to speak as well. Kidd advocates women developing female language, though I'm not sure exactly how that would work out.

8. I thought it was really interesting that she pointed out how women often apologize for not bearing sons.

9. One of the experiences I recognized from my own life that Kidd also went over is how common it is for men (or anyone who supports patriarchy) to trivialize the problems it causes, accusing those who bring up the problems of being too excitable or "hysterical." This makes the folks carrying these messages more likely to step back and stop pressing because they don't want to be considered "angry feminists." We don't want to be like THOSE people! We'd better calm down and reassure everyone that we're not really very angry!

10. She brought up an interesting point about male authority--how we tend to go to men for authoritative advice and "final word" type discussion--as well as permission--while going to other women is more about solace and emotional support, not authoritative answers. We really haven't given ourselves or other women permission to be authorities, especially in very patriarchal institutions.

11. Mary is the closest thing Christianity has to a feminine divine, and her humble attitude was to submissively accept a role as a vessel, to gracefully accept what others decided would be done to her. That's the closest to a role model women have in the church.

12. The book mentions that mothers train their daughters to accept the system. It's true. I was told that my role is to appreciate attention that makes me uncomfortable for the sake of the men's pride, and I was taught to "just ignore" when people challenge me or insult me because that shows I'm a better person. If I fight, they win. If I don't, they keep doing it and my job is to not let it bother me. I am acted upon, and that's what I'm there for; I'd be praised for showing everyone that I don't mind.

13. Supporters of patriarchy simultaneously claim nothing is wrong and we shouldn't be upset AND refer to feminist ideas as turning the tables or reversing a natural order. They don't WANT us to do that because they know it would be terrible to be on the bottom, but then they think we should be okay with being on the receiving end of terrible. I find it interesting and a bit infuriating that they can pretend we have no right to complain about being crushed under a boulder, but as soon as it starts rolling their way they scream about how unfair that would be.

14. Kidd says it's taken for granted that women will find their primary fulfillment as adults from a husband and children. They have to get permission to do otherwise. I've found that to be true in the real world. Women who have a career are often thought of as doing so "instead of having a family," while most men who have a career aren't treated like they chose one or the other; they of course can have both (and usually do) because it's assumed they aren't the primary caregiver or the one whose "problem" it is. Women also get to deal with "oh, so is your husband okay with you working?" and it's assumed that a woman's earning a living constitutes some kind of specific stand she's taking.

15. The book points out that women are taught to find meaning by suffering for others and denying themselves pleasure. Praise is heaped upon them for caring for themselves last.

16. One passage discusses how differences between men and women are usually drawn up with women's experiences as secondary and usually inferior, defined only in the context of a man. I've seen this too--when we study the anatomy of cisgender men and women, you wouldn't believe how often I've heard "men have a penis and women don't." Have you EVER heard someone say that a man is defined by not having a vagina? Has any system of psychology ever been built around someone thinking men perceive themselves as lacking something? But gee, no, "penis envy" was a thing. This also got me thinking how many rude terms we have for unmarried women--spinster, cat lady, etc. Unmarried women are frequently presented as unstable, mentally ill, unfulfilled, or grieving. But it's much more common for unmarried men to be regarded as stags, studs, go-getters, or career-minded (unless they're unattractive in some way, and then they get mocked too, of course).

17. Kidd mentions the snake in the Eden story being associated with the Goddess. Christianity sought to punish Eve for her association with it and separated her from it. I think this is a bit of a stretch because snakes are also associated with phallic imagery, but I know what she means--Eve herself was a symbol of feminine weakness and temptation, so it makes sense that they'd use other symbols they thought to represent hedonism and betrayal to cast Eve on the evil side.

18. Kidd moved to another version of Orthodoxy first when she decided something had to be done. And she chose this other face of the same problematic institution because she was convinced she was doing it For The Children. So she wouldn't be seen as a Bad Mother. When she found in her new church that the divine feminine she craved was still missing, she brought it up and was condescendingly told that it's a "side issue." Wow, is that familiar to me. People try to shame you for not living up to what's expected of you As A Woman, but then if you try to bring up how biased this is, you're still told you should be happy that there's a "women's corner" of the newspaper and plenty of Approved LadyThings for you to do.

19. I thought this was a great point: Woman shouldn't be peripheral. Her quest to be central in her own spiritual life is not "against men." It is FOR her. SO often in my discussions with patriarchy supporters, they insist that my desire to be seen as equal is, intrinsically, an act against men! It's like getting punched in the face a bunch of times, and then holding up your hands and saying "hey, can we talk about setting something up where I don't get punched in the face constantly?" and then you're attacked by people who want to know why you hate freedom so much that you would ask someone to stop exercising their freedom to punch others in the face.

20. Kidd told a story about some flies that stopped flying up to the lid of the jar they were in because they'd learned it wasn't a way out, and they continued to assume there was no way out even after the experimenters took the lid off. The flies don't look for the exit after a lid has been on the jar forever. That's how people trapped in oppressive systems are, too.

21. There were some interesting discussions of myths in the book, featuring a woman who collaborated with a man to escape her cruel father, then was betrayed by that same man and left on an island. She then had to find strength in herself instead of depending on the man to survive. When you realize the system you've been raised in can no longer be tolerated and you leave it, you're left on an island, abandoned, without direction. Instructing yourself after being raised in a system like that can be scary. You just don't have the tools. This made sense to me.

22. I've always been a bit uncomfortable with the "transformation requires descent and unmaking" idea--though I get it logically, I also sort of feel like we grow out of what we were, not so much by killing our old selves and becoming something new, but by growing from the seeds we were and shedding useless or harmful branches. The "death of the old self" idea is very common and compelling for many, though. Also, grief is natural when you leave something of yourself behind. Even though you know that's not what you are anymore, you can't help mourning what you lost.

23. A quote: "Feminine knowing often registers in the body before registering in the mind." I've seen that, feeling attuned to a meaningful thing that's about to happen. It's weird but I absolutely recognize that feeling.

24. Kidd says patriarchy hurts men too, but that sometimes they can only see it watching how it hurts the women they love. That's a very astute observation . . . and hopefully those who experience this can go on to see how it limits their own lives too.

25. I really liked the book's emphasis on the importance of rituals that fit what you want to celebrate!

26. The book says some modern women are alienated by goddesses or feminine divine because they don't want to worship some ancient goddess, but they can find the feminine divine in themselves. I rather like connecting to the ancient, but I think it's just as fresh now.

27. Interestingly, Kidd isn't completely advocating leaving Christianity if you want your femininity fostered. You can find feminine divine in Christian teachings, but it has been excised in many translations. We don't want to be one of a trinity and secondary.

28. Kidd puts emphasis on the importance of seeing the body as sacred and not separated from sacredness. Goddess spirituality encourages seeing bodies as sacred and acknowledging the dark sides of mortality too. That's very important.

29. The author outlined some situations where she had to stand her ground and was scolded for her anger or defiance. She pointed out that anger can drive a woman to fight or resist, but it doesn't have to be violent. It can just be firm. Power isn't about domination, but more about strength to preserve and defend and not apologize for wanting to be primary and to be given respect.

30. Kidd suggests celebrating earthliness, nowness, and the everyday in order to connect more meaningfully. It's very interesting how what she came from--what she initially embraced--preferred to emphasize heavenliness at the expense of earthly pleasures; emphasized the future reward in Heaven at the expense of what happens now; and emphasized the celebration of the extraordinary instead of finding holiness in what's around you every day.

Reading this book was emotional for me, and sometimes in unexpected ways, but oddly enough, I didn't love it. I just related to it--I guess in the way many women who have felt what she describes would--and I did like her stories about her husband's evolution, her relationship with her daughter, and her ecstatic experiences. But because I felt more like I was recognizing things I already knew but not learning new things about how to go forward, I felt like I probably was just not really this book's audience, and that affected my rating a bit. I think it might be a better guide for someone coming from her background and heading to where she went--there are some very clear moments in there and it's prettily written. And I love her fiction. :)

Sue Monk Kidd's Dance of the Dissident Daughter is a magnificent female quest in search of the Divine Feminine both out in the world of traditional religion and within one's self in the world of spirituality. As I read her stories and journey of discovery, it moved me through striking feelings of revelation and celebration. A journey that began with a dream of giving birth to herself, it stalled and then appeared to crown not with a marked event directed at her, which she had clearly learned all her life to ignore that which had become normal, but rather a sexist event directed at her 14 year old daughter...an act that for her seemed to embody and symbolize the suffering of all women. By interacting in the event and standing up for her daughter, thereby showing her how to do the same, her journey continued to open up for her in ways unexpected and celebrated, beautiful and poignant. It WAS and is partly my story and leaves me feeling enlightened as well as supported on my own journey. And I found myself marking passages and reading them to my all women writing retreat group. This should be shared with everyone! Thank you, Sue Monk Kidd, for engaging and interacting with your journey in such a way that it shines for all of us. And for sharing it. For all women coming awake...and awake some more.

As a Christian woman, and a spiritual woman, I read Ms. Monk's book with hope for insight into another woman's journey. I was disappointed that her journey to wholeness required her to leave Christianity, to give God another gender, to abandon her husband as he tried to understand her struggle. She made her journey exclusive rather than inclusive. I'd guess and hope that eventually her journey will take her full circle, back to her Christianity, back to her family, and richer for the experience.

This book literally changed my life. I have read this book into pieces. I would like to say it saved me. I hit a place in my life at 30 years old where everything I knew fell into pieces. During this time a good friend kept telling me to read this, that it was my story. I read it and was weeping within the first chapter. I was the patriarchal, wife, christian, mother. The course of man god religion led me to complete and total desolation. I was completely empty with no seeming reason to be so empty. I felt guilt over the deep sense of empty and unhappiness I felt. I had it all, yet was so unhappy.

I don't want to say more than this, but this book gave me courage to start telling the truth. It made it so I could no longer follow the church's guide to what a woman, wife, and mother "ought" to be, but rather to admit who I actually was. My ending has been different that S.M.K's, but I will forever be grateful that a woman of faith had the courage to risk it all to tell the truth I think so many of us women feel. SHe gave the feminine wound a name, and gave a voice to the grief so many of us feel.

Best selling author ("The Secret Life of Bees") Sue Monk Kidd was born into a conservative Christian family and married a conservative Christian minister. For years, she wrote inspirational Christian books. What, then, made her decide to step away from church teachings regarding the place of women and embark on a journey to find the sacred feminine?

Kidd had long been uncomfortable with how her gender was treated, both in society and in her church. Told repeatedly that woman was to serve man because Eve had tempted Adam into sin, she finally had enough when she went her young teen daughter's work to pick her up, only to find the girl kneeling to stock the bottom shelf and hear one man say to another "That's the way I like to see women- on their knees". That started a journey of several years as she read, meditated, traveled and talked with other women as she tried to make sense of what was changing in her, spiritually.

Her reading took in both modern feminism and ancient texts. She found that in old Hebrew texts and the Old Testament there was a female deity as well as a male, but somewhere along the line she had disappeared. This, along with female deities from other cultures (Minoan Crete, ancient Greece, Native American), convinced her that there was a basis for a feminine spirituality. Eventually, she found that she could manage to hold both a deep feminine spirituality and to the Christian church.

Kidd writes of her journey step by step. It's interesting and moving and her pain is palpable and there is an amazing amount of synchronicity, but after a certain point in the book the immediacy of her feelings seems to disappear. The narrative, for whatever reason, goes flat. It's still useful and interesting, but it drags and a few parts felt like a chore to read- and read like they had been a chore to write. I'd recommend this book for any woman who is questioning the gendered aspects of modern religion as a beginning book. Even if they only read the first parts, it will head them in the right direction.

This brilliant, provocative book is revolutionary. In sharing her firestorm about feminine spirituality Sue Monk Kidd gently guides us through our own awakening. "The Dance of the Dissident Daughter" not only reveals the sacred feminine in the Christian tradition but shows how patriarchal spirituality is ultimately a flight from the earth. Sue's awakening to the knowledge that we are connected with everything lead her to a dawning awareness that the earth is alive and divine. Her question: "How big is your `we'?" challenges us to move from the little "we" of humankind to the larger "we" of all creation. She rightly points out the future of the planet depends on how we answer that question.

Sue Monk Kidd spent approximately her first forty years in the Baptist church, where women are exhorted to submit to their husbands and where she heard the phrase "second in creation, first to sin" countless times. She was disgruntled with the church's stance on women, but never felt moved to rock the boat much, until one day she walked into her daughter's work and found two customers sexually harassing the girl. Something snapped inside her, and she began to question her religion's assumptions about gender and to seek a more feminist spirituality. Her journey took her to ancient mythology, the Gnostic gospels, and to dark places in her own life as her quest caused trouble in her marriage and her religious life. She tells us how she got through her troubles, and her story seems very human and touching. She would feel uneasy, drop the whole subject for months, but her longing always resurfaced. And in the end, she seems to have found peace, and some interesting insights. This book will be interesting to Christian women trying to figure out how to reconcile religion with self-respect. It was also interesting to me, as a pagan of several years and an agnostic before that--it helped me see value in Christianity that I had not seen before.
My only gripe about it is that sometimes Kidd generalizes too much. The book is at its best when she tells her own story, but sometimes she slips into saying things like "A woman feels X when Y happens". Everybody's journey is slightly different.

I am one of those seekers who joined a mainstream (Protestant) church with a Catholic background in my family history. I have spent years exploring both Catholic and Protestant faiths, trying to figure out which path will help me reach the religious life I desire but have been missing. Neither practice has worked for me, despite my intense efforts and study -- and good intentions and faith.
This book helped me pinpoint what was bothering me (and hurting) for ages, but like many women expressed here, could not quite figure out. Both Protestant and Catholic traditions left me feeling like something was missing, and that something was WRONG with ME. It has been so painful.
Thank you, Sue Monk Kidd, for helping me discover why I've felt like I was on the other side of a huge wall, trying to reach God and not finding Her/Him. I will look forward to your next book on this topic.

In THE DANCE OF THE DISSIDENT DAUGHTER, Sue Monk Kidd tells of her journey from mainstream Christian to devotee of the Sacred Feminine. You may recognize Kidd's name. She is now writing fiction. She was forced to give up many things during the six years covered in her book including a successful career as an Christian inspirational writer, but she also discovered there really is life beyond the one you lead. I won't tell you how things turned out with her Southern Baptist husband - she says that's `his story'.
Kidd certainly is a knowledgeable person who seems to have read many of the key books associated with the Sacred Feminine. One other reviewer described her as `almost Wicca' but I don't think that is not quite accurate, and I don't know that Kidd would agree. I can imagine some members of Wicca would disagree with that interpretation. (See DRAWING DOWN THE MOON and THE SPIRAL DANCE for an overview thinking on Wicca.) If Kidd is a member of Wicca, she hadn't come out of the broom closet as of the writing of this book.
Many of us who grew up in the Christian tradition have found the going tough as we became older. Some people can remember where they were the day JFK was killed in Dallas. I can too, but I can also remember exactly where I was when the pope issued `Humanae Vitae' (sp). That encyclical upheld traditional RC thinking on birth control. As one who had been pregnant six times in four years using the "approved" church method of "rhythm" (we had a lot of rhythm and no control as the saying goes) that encyclical was the last straw. Many of us have a moment of crises when we make a decision to stay with the religion of our birth or go on to another path. I chose the latter.
Reading Kidd's book I had a sense of recognition. I found myself laughing a crying along with Kidd. She found a new path, a better path for her. I hope when she is in her sixties (which I am) she will revisit the topic. I'd like to know where else she's been.

Sue Monk Kidd captures the reader with her openness about how she became a feminist, almost by accident. This is a very personal account describing her experience of moving from accepted Christianity to feminism. I found the story fascinating and finished it in only 3 days. For the most part, the author simply told her story and how she interpreted the events she faced along the way. However, at various places in the book she began to generalize her experiences to all women, which made me agree with the reviewer who said her journey is not my journey.

What I found a bit disconcerting is that the author states that she made a living as a writer for Christian and inspirational magazines and yet on page 83 says that she suddenly realized that the Bible focuses primarily on masculine rather than feminine attributes of God. Actually, the primary message throughout the Bible is that the God who created the universe wants to have a personal relationship with his creatures, both female and male, and how that is achieved. Even the author would classify relationships as a domain which is more in the feminine rather than mascuine realm. Likewise, the majority of the 10 Commandments deal with relationships and in Matthew 22:36-39 Jesus said the 2 most important commands were loving God and loving your neighbor. I don't see how anyone can miss these more feminine qualities of God.

Maybe the fact that America is a much more egalitarian society than when the book was written in 1996, and maybe some of the recent books that I've read, like The Female Brain, which highlights some of the hormonal and internal changes that women undergo explain why I disagree with the author and don't view the elements of patriarchy in society as something that needs to be attacked. Also, Kidd identifies many identity issues as struggles for girls and women, which I believe are universal struggles regardless of one's gender.

However, even with these complaints I believe the book is important to read if one wants to understand and interact knowledgably with a feminist.

Sue Monk Kidd has created a masterpiece... a highly personal and yet relevant journey of one woman who suddenly realized the historically patriarchal nature of the Christian church. As a woman and a mainline protestant minister myself, there is no doubt that she has named the pain of generations of women who suddenly woke up and realized they were not fully included.
Her journey is beautiful, deep, and heartfelt. Another Christian reviewer wrote, "not my Journey". Well, Kidd's experience is not mine either... I have chosen to work within the church rather than leave the value I find there. Yet her journey is both understandable, and fully her own. When I was in seminary in the early to mid 90s, this book was definately required reading for all the female pastors-to-be. I have recommended it to women in my church who are struggling with their desire for a more feminine spirituality, who question the status quo and their own assumptions about the nature of the divine.
I love this book not so much as a guidebook to a post-
Christian place, or even a feminist manifesto, but as a how-to for spiritual searching. Highly recommended for both male and female seekers!

Profound book and a must read for every woman; young and old. Sue Monk Kidd is a trail blazer & speaks honest from her own journey. For this book to have been written in 1996 is astounding. It's message, more than ever is critical to the Spirit of the Woman in all of us.

The women who gave this book negative reviews failed to understand that this is the journey of one woman. The author had to tell her story as it was true for her and she does an excellent job. I am a loner and understand the need for time and space that is mine. Why is that such a threat to some people? Some times our journeys take us to places we couldn't imagine if we tried. We just have to follow our inner guidance, inner voice and trust. This is what the author did and I applaud her for it.

As a retired male mainline protestant pastor, who has long been uncomfortable with the obvious (to anyone who really looks) male orientation of just about everything in the church, this book has brought tears to my eyes on many pages. Through it I have pictured my own daughters' disenchantment with, seemingly, the only alternative for a living faith available to them without divorcing themselves from the shelter and nurture of those they have loved and been loved by. Sue has articulated for me what I wished I could have found the words to say to them over the course of our lifetimes. She speaks from the pain of her experience without lashing out; always in dialog, as opposed to reaction. She discovers and shares viable alternative experiences of heart-centered faith, and seems to wait for you to respond with discoveries of your own, which she acknowledges may be different from her own. My one disappointment in this book is that it seems to have been marketed so excusively for women. Sometimes I think the only hope for men to rediscover the joy of really intimate relationships with women, is for the women to draw us into the kinds of discoveries which they are making for themselves. And it seems to me that this will happen so much more quickly if we can be sensitive to the pilgrimage they are on. And Sue says it so openly, non-abrasively, and so well. J. Kent Borgaard, [...]
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This is a fabulous book. I recommend it to every woman struggling to find a place for herself spiritually. I grew up in one form of the Christian tradition only to find myself disenchanted in my young adulthood. Even though this book is written from the viewpoint of a woman raised in christianity, it is relevant and important for women of all faiths that have been steeped in patriarchy. I felt that my idea of finding my own way spiritually was somehow blasphemous (according to my conditioning at a young age) until I found this book. Sue Monk Kidd writes a truely amazing account of her own struggle and how she eventually came out the other side of it a stronger, fuller woman. When I read this book, I felt like I had come home. This book is very important not just for me personally, but for the whole of society. The world can benefit greatly by the return of a sacred feminine to the collective consciousness.

This is an excellent book for developing your personal growth. I used this book as part of a class called "Women's Spiritual Journey", in which a group of women read and discussed this and several other books. We all seemed to get something a little different out of it. Following the class, I sugested this to my womens book group, and now I am reading it again, and finding new insights! Well worth the effort to read.

Loved all her other books (Secret Life of Bees, The Mermaid Chair, Travelling with Pomegranats), Couldn't get into this one, more introspective, religous, personal, boring. Kind or a self help for her self. Very disappointing.

I have been following Sue Monk Kidd since those days when she was a contributing writer to Norman Vincent Peale's Guideposts magazine. As another woman who has come to embrace the Divine Feminine, I admire her courage in relating her spiritual journey, especially in giving up those associations through which she had acquired fame and recognition.

I found this book profoundly stirring and it really made me say "yes!" to a lot of unexplored questions and thoughts I had about spirituality. The author made me ache to know a circle of women like herself - people with whom I could share, discuss and celebrate spirituality. She also left me hungry for more!

I loved this book because it so closely chronicled my own feelings of distance from patriarchal Christianity except that my journey started when I was 15 and I began to reject the anti-female stories and persuasions of the male teachers at my church's Sunday School. The book is a sensitively, passionately written memoir that intelligently chronicles one woman's realizations of sexism in her beloved church and how in order to surive and thrive she had to choose between it and giving birth to herself.

Finally, a book about the female goddess written by a woman with great knowledge and wisdom AND amazing research. The research allows us to believe that we are NOT being duped by a woman...like we've been duped by all the men.

This is an excellent book with such profound insight into a woman's soul. Every woman should read this. Sue should write another book filled with even more research!!!

In her direct and personal style, Sue Monk Kidd tells the story of her journey into spiritual feminism. Fortunately her story is not hers alone. Her journey is the the journey many women today are making into themselves to discover what has been denied or lost to them in a patriarchial society. Many will see their own struggles and triumphs mirrored in her words. They will cry with relief as her story unfolds and they realize that they are not alone. Sue Monk Kidd has written what most of us do not have the gift to write- but do have the heart to feel and the soul to seek. Through this book Sue gives courage to other women who are seeking to heal thier own feminine wounds and walk the paths of our mothers before us.

For many years, I have been trying to identify my wounds, which ones needed healing, which ones needed to be shelved and written about later -- then I came upon Kidd's book, THE DANCE OF THE DISIDENT DAUGHTER -- and there it all was! I had also been living the life of a "man-made woman.!" The questions I had for years been seeking the answers to were answered in this book -- the questions regarding language, naming, patriarchial world, etc. This book has stirred up a whole new part of me. Perhaps it has stirred up my unused life -- my life between the ages of 18 to 45. I believe God is calling me now to look at this part of myself. A must read for all women over 18!

"The Dance of the Dissident Daughter" is Kidd's very personal story of transitioning from a life as a Southern Baptist writer to a feminine spiritual writer. The book highlights her anger turned to courage, creativity and love. Her narrative includes many citations to academic writings. This book was similar to Starbird's account and mirrored my own self-discovery. If you've read "The Secret Life of Bees" or "The Mermaid Chair," I recommend "The Dance of the Dissident Daughter."

Sue Monk Kidd has bravely set forth her journey from her place in a rigid belief system to finding herself, at last, at home in a belief system far removed from where she began. One of the most difficult tasks in our lives is moving away from the teachings of our parents and friends and making the lonely journey to a place that feels to us like home. If you have never read any of Kidd's novels, I encourage you to do so; however, this is a personal journey that I encourage you to take. It is well worth your time.
Donna Gormly, author of "The Tysen Hotel"

Thank you Sue Monk Kidd for writing this book. It was an affirmation that the journey I'm on is where I am suppose to be. I could identify with most everything you shared. It is not easy to face this journey, so if we increase by number we will begin to make change. I belong to a Circle of Women and we celebrate 2 years of sharing in ritual. It is empowering to grow with women following the same path. Because I have conveyed that you can find your higher self and your sacred feminine, others want to know how. This book should be on the BEST SELLERS LIST. It is a must read to change the conditioning of every male and female on this earth. I am doing my part to pass it on. Thank you Sue for writing this book. EKD

I did enjoy The Dance of the Dissident Daughter. The author's journey was clearly genuine, and I couldn't agree more with the sentiment expressed: Orthodox Christianity has systematically suppressed expressions of the Feminine Divine, to the point of suppressing all feminine power and feminine voices. The time is ripe for a change.

As much as I empathized with her, however, I found the writing less than engaging. Kidd spends much time detailing every twist and turn of her spiritual journey, in prose far below the quality of that found in her fictional work. She is particuarly fond of narrating events which clearly have enormous personal significance to her (encounters with wild animals, dream sequences), but which fall flat when transcribed.

I was also not impressed with her scholarship. While the book is certainly not meant as feminist academic work, I had hoped that the level of her discussion would leave the strictly introductory, which it did not.

On the whole, while less than brilliant, the book is well worth reading- especially if you're a fan of Sue Monk Kidd, a Christian, a feminist, a spiritual seeker, or some combination of the above.

Sue Monk Kidd reached a pinnacle level with this book. I actually read "The Mermaid Chair" before "Dance of the Dissident Daughter" and LOVED that book also. "Dance" gave me such hope that there are others out there following the same path, reaching for the same aspirations and searching for the same truth. Thank you Sue for helping me to see clearly what I have been looking for all of my life. My journey is far from over....but I will use this book as a guidepost of what truly is important. I have bought this book for many others that share the same passion of finding the God-dess within all of us.

AWESOME book! She affirmed my own personal journey through the sharing of her story. Liberating and empowering a positive influence to the world. Rich in theology, philosophy and history, told with courage in a relevant context. Thank you so much!

This book was recommended to me by a counselor. I was hesitant on even reading this book, but am so glad I did! I have now been on my own journey to find and see the female perspective that has been seemingly left out of the church circles I grew up in (or rather acknowledge parts that were always there and didn't make the connection). This book basically brought my faith into a new light and direction. I absolutely loved this book, that I have continued to read various books by this same author.

Another reviewer called this book "self-indulgent," and that is an apt description. The author's journey is to be commended: she had the courage and self-awareness to question and examine the assumptions and forces that surrounded her. But her journey is not unique, and her astonishment that our culture and religions are dominated by a patriarchal-male focus demonstrate the narrowness of her knowledge. Imbuing every dream and personal anecdote with some inner feminist interpretation - a bit of a stretch. She appears to have read widely -- or at least dabbled because she drops random references and quotes frequently, often without context or further examination. She could have used a good editor. If you want a solid, well-written and thoughtful exploration of the feminist-mystical journey, I recommend Carol Flinders - At the Root of This Longing: Reconciling a Spiritual Hunger and a Feminist Thirst.