Scholar Argues The Da Vinci Code is Anti-Feminist

The da Vinci Code created a stir among theologians with its controversial theme about the origins of the Christian religion. After all, the book by Dan Brown, and the subsequent movie, were based on the idea that Mary Magdalene was a partner to Jesus in the founding of Christianity. But what does that say about modern feminism? Does The da Vinci Code promote feminism? Not according to one feminist scholar.

In a recent study published in the scholarly journal Critical Studies in Media Communication, Kristy Maddux argues that The da Vinci Code is pro-feminist on the surface, but anti-feminist in its underlying themes. At first glance, the assistant professor at the University of Maryland said, it looks pro-feminist because it "pits a strong central female character against sexist villains."

But the book has several problems for feminists, argues Maddux. First, she believes it spends too much time on the biological, child-bearing role of women - focusing on Mary Magdalene as bearing the Holy Grail within her womb. "Mary Magdalene's symbolic significance is reduced to her reproductive functions," Maddux argued

"All that Magdalene could have been as Jesus' companion in his ministry, as the heir to his church, has been reduced to three predicate nouns that follow each iteration of the verb 'was': the Holy Vessel, the womb, and the chalice," Maddux added. ". . . . She has been reduced to the blood-carrier, the chalice"

Maddux also criticizes the book for its negative view of homosexuality, even while describing Leonardo da Vinci - the person supposedly behind the "da Vinci Code" - as a "flamboyant homosexual.' The problem, she says, is that the novel's "revelations about Christian history" focus on traditional male and female roles, "ultimately celebrating heterosexual reproduction and men's sexual fulfillment above all else."

She cites the secret "Heiros Gamos" ceremony in the book as an example. In that ritual, members of the Priory kneel while the group's grand master has sex with a female partner. "The ritual itself is definitely heterosexual, and presumably even the 'flamboyantly homosexual' Priory Grand Master Leonardo da Vinci would have celebrated Heiros Gamos with a female partner," Maddux argues.

Maddux is also bothered by what she sees as a constant theme of women finding fulfillment only from personal, i.e., private, relationships. Any pro-feminist sentiment is loss, she argues, "by the novel's persistent bias towards the private sphere."

That problem is best illustrated, she noted, by the climactic kiss in the book by the two main characters. That means that Sophie has found her fulfillment in a personal relationship, not as a public voice for a new view of Christianity.

With that kiss, Maddux argued, "the two central characters have found fulfillment through family and romance. That kiss marks the completion of the personal, private journey that defines this grail quest."

Overall, Maddux described The da Vinci Code as "a mixed text," adding that "its reduction of women to biology alone, ultimately undercuts its feminist potential and reinforces the status quo."

Even worse, according to Maddux, is that the film appears to celebrate women yet does little for true progress of the feminist movement. The book, she argues, "makes plain that celebrating women does not always make for feminist progress."

Reference

Maddux, Kristy (2008). The da Vinci Code and the regressive gender politics of celebrating women. Critical Studies in Media Communication, 25, 225-248.