The marginalization of evangelical feminism

Sociology of Religion, Fall, 2004 by Sally K. Gallagher

INTRODUCTION

Drawing on the theoretical perspectives of religious subcultural strength (Smith 1998), I address the question of why evangelical feminist ideas of egalitarianism within marriage and the church remain a marginalized tradition among American evangelicals. Following an overview of scattered perspectives and possibilities for mutuality and partnership threading their way through church history, I examine the renewed emphasis on gender hierarchicalism and gender essentialism in twentieth century evangelical publications, and explore the degree to which both heirarchialist and evangelical feminist ideals are expressed by ordinary evangelicals today. Based on an analysis of evangelical discourse on gender hierarchy and equality, organizational resources, and national data on ordinary evangelicals, I argue that in spite of its relative lack of organizational resources, contemporary evangelical feminism thrives as a subculture within a subculture, because 1) it is supported by a growing body of theological, exegetical and historical studies; 2) it is consistent with the normative ideal of egalitarianism in the broader culture; 3) it represents an effective gender strategy within the majority of dual-earner evangelical households; and 4) it draws on a thread of egalitarian rhetoric within the subculture itself--defining a cultural and ideological space in which feminist evangelicals may find meaningful religious identity and community. Nevertheless, explicitly feminist perspectives remain marginalized within evangelicalism because gender persists as a central, salient and effective element of the boundary work that maintains evangelical subculture and identity.

I begin with a brief outline of the history of the poly-vocal discourse on gender and family within Christianity, illustrating the presence of scattered and muted egalitarian perspectives that have become central to contemporary evangelical feminist claims that Christianity is not hopelessly patriarchal, but offers ideological tools and organizational resources to transform and undermine gender inequality. I then review the emergence of twentieth century evangelical feminism and highlight some of the ongoing debates between evangelical feminists and evangelical gender essentialists, focusing on the 1970s and 1980s when the lines of the arguments were being articulated and refined. Finally, I review findings from a national survey of self-identified evangelicals (Religious Identity and Influence Survey 1996) to assess the limited influence of the ideals of evangelical feminism on the ideals of ordinary evangelicals, and posit institutional and subcultural weakness as the sources of the continued marginalization of evangelical feminism.

The theory of religious subcultural strength (Smith 1998) provides a framework for understanding both the poly-vocal nature of evangelical discourse on gender as well as the persistent marginalization of the more egalitarian voices within the evangelical community. Religions thrive, Smith argues, not when they isolate themselves from pluralism, but when they provide a clear set of beliefs and practices that strengthen group identity and distinguish one's own religious subculture from the alternatives. Among conservative Protestants, evangelicalism thrives because at the center of its subcultural identity is the drive to be simultaneously in but not of the "world." Although evangelicals, fundamentalists and Pentecostal Christians are often identified as "conservative Protestants" and "biblical literalists" each has its own history, doctrinal distinctives, and religious subculture. The neoevangelicalism that emerged out of fundamentalist Protestantism at mid-century was a theologically conservative and socially engaged, predominantly white (only 9 percent of self-identified evangelicals are black), upper-middle class, and largely northern (62 percent live outside the South) religious subculture (Emerson and Smith 2000; Smith 1998). Fundamentalism, on the other hand, was and continues to be somewhat more isolationist--emphasizing separation rather than engagement with the world (for a more thorough discussion of the history and theological differences among conservative Protestants see (Gallagher 2003; Marsden 1991; Smith 1998). A third strand of twentieth century conservative Protestantism, Pentecostalism, was considered theologically suspect by Fundamentalists until alliances formed with other politically conservative Christian organizations in the 1980s (Moen 1994; Wacker 2001).

In the United States, twenty-three percent of religiously committed Protestants (those who regularly attend church services and those who do not regularly attend, but who say their faith is "extremely important" to them), identify as evangelical; twenty-one percent as fundamentalist; thirty-two percent as mainline; and twenty-four percent as theologically liberal (see Table 1).

Central to the subcultural identity of these self-identified evangelicals are deeply held beliefs about Jesus as the only way of salvation, the authority of the Bible and one's "personal walk with God" as the sources of knowing how to live, the importance of both evangelical mission and social reform, and the responsibility of husbands to be the spiritual head of the household. Approximately one quarter of all evangelicals identify themselves as affiliated with a Pentecostal church or as part of the charismatic movement.