Witnessing Femininity: Evangelical Women and Gender Construction
Social Sciences
ANTH 194C: Feminist Anthropology
The American evangelical church’s views on gender norms are typically seen as oppressive and fixed. However, there are often more complicated and changeable ways of navigating these norms in practice. This paper uses a feminist theoretical lens to explore how gender identity is understood and lived from the perspective of evangelical women. Church ideology, practices, and literary publications demonstrate the ways in which ideals of acceptable femininity are constructed. I argue that there are important spaces of resistance for evangelical women within their marriages and the church structure, specifically through women’s groups and the belief in mutual submission.
