Evangelical Women and Secular Society in New Zealand: An Investigation into Feminism as an Ideology of Empowerment

<p>This thesis examines the resurgence of evangelicalism in New Zealand and the conflicting nature of the lives that evangelical women in New Zealand live. Evangelicalism in New Zealand is growing and evolving and thus evangelical women are by necessity adapting to their secular setting whilst maintaining their faith. This study reveals many interesting findings, illustrating the often contradictory and challenging issues that evangelical women must face as they identify with feminism as a secular symbol while maintaining a conservative evangelical faith. Evangelical women in New Zealand today are living in two worlds. The women have a strong sense of identity and faith within evangelicalism however there are contradictions. Simultaneously there is a strong influence of secular liberal society which is evident through the women's identification with feminist values. What has been discovered is that evangelical women can successfully live in two separate worlds – one secular and one religious. They can be women of faith while at the same time living their lives in a secular society. Similarly there is a significant gap between rhetoric and reality in evangelical women's lives – what evangelical women articulate regarding gender roles in theory is not necessarily what occurs in practice. These challenges are defined by society and thus are a useful tool to assist in the understanding of the conflicts evangelical women have to negotiate on a daily basis.</p>

Evangelical Women and Secular Society in New Zealand: An Investigation into Feminism as an Ideology of Empowerment

<p>This thesis examines the resurgence of evangelicalism in New Zealand and the conflicting nature of the lives that evangelical women in New Zealand live. Evangelicalism in New Zealand is growing and evolving and thus evangelical women are by necessity adapting to their secular setting whilst maintaining their faith. This study reveals many interesting findings, illustrating the often contradictory and challenging issues that evangelical women must face as they identify with feminism as a secular symbol while maintaining a conservative evangelical faith. Evangelical women in New Zealand today are living in two worlds. The women have a strong sense of identity and faith within evangelicalism however there are contradictions. Simultaneously there is a strong influence of secular liberal society which is evident through the women's identification with feminist values. What has been discovered is that evangelical women can successfully live in two separate worlds – one secular and one religious. They can be women of faith while at the same time living their lives in a secular society. Similarly there is a significant gap between rhetoric and reality in evangelical women's lives – what evangelical women articulate regarding gender roles in theory is not necessarily what occurs in practice. These challenges are defined by society and thus are a useful tool to assist in the understanding of the conflicts evangelical women have to negotiate on a daily basis.</p>

‘Wife, Mommy, Pastor and Friend’: The Rise of Female Evangelical Microcelebrities

The popularity of digital media has spurred what has been called a “crisis of authority”. How do female evangelical microcelebrities figure in this crisis? Many of these women belong to churches led by male pastors, have amassed a large following online, and are sought-after speakers and teachers. This paper analyses how gender, religious authority, and the digital sphere collide through the rise of female evangelical microcelebrities. Bringing together ethnographic data, textual analysis, and social media analysis of six prominent women, I emphasize the power of representation to impact religious practices and religious meaning. This article examines how evangelical women are performing and negotiating their legitimacy as the Internet and fluid geographical boundaries challenge local models of religious authority. Moving away from a binary perspective of “having” or “not having” authority, this paper considers the various spheres of authority that evangelical microcelebrities occupy, including normative womanhood, prosperity theology, and politics. Finally, by examining the social media content put forth by female evangelical microcelebrities, I interrogate the political stakes of evangelical women’s authority.

Gender Role Ideologies, Marital Satisfaction, and Eudaimonic Well-Being in Evangelical Women

Recent research has demonstrated that egalitarian gender role ideologies are associated with higher marital satisfaction and higher psychological well-being. However, there has been little research investigating whether gender role ideologies in Evangelical populations follow these same trends. The current study examined how gender role ideologies in an Evangelical population are related to marital satisfaction and eudaimonic well-being, as well as the role of locus of control in these relationships. Three hundred sixty-three Evangelical Christian women were administered a survey containing measures of gender role ideology, marital satisfaction, eudaimonic well-being, and locus of control. No bivariate relationship was found between marital satisfaction and gender role ideologies. However, locus of control significantly moderated this relationship, such that the relationship was only significant for women with a more external locus of control. Specifically, externalizing women evidenced a significant positive relationship between egalitarian gender role ideologies and marital satisfaction, whereas the relationship was not significant for internalizing women. Moreover, egalitarian gender role ideologies were found to be positively related to eudaimonic well-being. The results of this research expand the current body of literature surrounding gender role ideologies within religious populations, specifically regarding outcomes that are associated with holding specific gender role ideologies.

Gender and Moral Transformation

This chapter focuses on the gender dimension of the Judaizing Evangelical change in the lives of female converts. By focusing on women’s moral transformation processes through their adherence to Judaizing Evangelical ethos—modesty rules, menstrual taboos, ritual roles, and more—it describes how women’s agency is articulated in their transformation. In a context where religious rules are not inherited or socially enforced, the chapter explores the ways in which Judaizing Evangelical women are willing to be the bearers and creators of this new religious identity. The chapter also discusses the cultural assemblages and the “moral torment” involved in the dramatic religious change project of Judaizing Evangelical women.

Conclusion

The conclusion summarizes the main arguments of the book. It explores themes such as the rationale of the Judaizing Evangelical revival and how it relates with wider discussions of religious change. It debates how social markers gender and ethnicity are intertwined in the case of the Judaizing Evangelicals in Brazil. At the micro level, it reveals how former Charismatic Evangelical women gradually adopt a set of religious norms in their daily lives through a curious negotiation of their Charismatic Evangelical pasts and the strict rules of Orthodox Judaism. At the macro level, describes the birth of a new tendency within Christianity that differs from similar Christian philo-Semitic movements such as Messianic Judaism and Christian Zionism. It concludes by stating how the rise of Judaizing Evangelicalism pushes forward key issues related to contemporary Christian philo-Semitism and World Christianities. Rather than an emic concept, it suggests that Judaizing Evangelicalism should be understood as an analytical concept that describes an unique interaction between Jewish and Christian monotheisms.

Religious Conversion

This chapter explores the theme of religious conversion. Drawing on current social scientific debates, it investigates the religious trajectories of Judaizing Evangelical women and their previous identification with Charismatic Evangelicalism. The chapter also examines the reasons behind these women’s estrangement from Charismatic Evangelicalism. It explores how their desire for Christian “purification” and “reformation” transformed them into willing subjects of a strict moral order characterized by ritual rigidity, intense biblical study, and a strong sense of communal identity. The chapter argues that these women’s incorporation of Jewish elements aims to rebuild the authenticity of Christianity while distinguishing them from Charismatic Evangelicalism and its perceived scriptural inaccuracy, moral permissiveness, and materialism.

Power of Suggestion? Leadership Signals, Politics, Religion, and Women’s Support for the Disadvantaged

We assess the role of social signals about the appropriateness of women in leadership roles in either the political or religious domain. The relevant literature leads to expectations of a relatively clear effect on women’s efficacy levels when encountering social suggestions that women’s skills are better used in other ways. However, less certain is whether encouraging women away from leadership in religious organizations impacts their sense of effect on political outcomes, including policies in support of disadvantaged outgroups. Utilizing a framing experiment embedded in a statewide public opinion poll, we find that social suggestion that women should stay away from religious leadership has statistically significant and negative effects on efficacy levels among our sample’s subset of evangelical women. At the same time, these anti-religious leadership signals move evangelical women away from supporting policy statements benefitting a disadvantaged outgroup. Given that it is the power of suggestion regarding religious, not political, leadership that leads to the effects among evangelical women, we offer additional paths for future research to explore on this wider topic.