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Evangelical Women in Atlantic Canada

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Evangelical Women in Atlantic Canada The Paths Between Resistance and Collaboration: Evangelical Women in Atlantic Canada Lori G. Beaman ABSTRACT Exploring the relationship between the New Right and Evangelical Christian women in Atlantic Canada, this paper presents evidence that there is some strong support for feminist ideas among Evangelical women, and argues it is wrong to summarily categorize conservative Protestants as supporters of the New Right agenda, thus creating barriers which alienate them from the feminist movement. RESUME En explorant le lien entre laNouvelle Droite et les femmes Chretiennes Evangeliques au Canada Atlantique, cet article ddmontre qu'il existe un assez grand support pour les iddes fdministes parmis les femmes 6vangetiques, et soutient qu'on a tort de categoriser sommairement les Protestantes conservatrices comme des partisanes de Pordre du jour de laNouvelle Droite, errant ainsi des barridres et les alidnant du mouvement ftministe. INTRODUCTION agree with one another (Klatch, 1987). In addition, as Peggy Shriver points out, a relatively small Perhaps one of the most disturbing aspects proportion of evangelical Christians actually of the "New Right" is the apparent participation and support the political conservativism and political collaboration of women in furthering its activism of the New Right. Shriver argues that the conservative agenda, particularly when that agenda claims of the Religious Right related to the number blatantly confines women to traditional roles or of supporters is likely exaggerated (1989:29). subservient status. Yet, the terms "new right" and The problem of discussing the New Right "conservative" are often used in a sweeping manner is further complicated by critiques of feminism with little regard for accuracy or context. The which would associate some of the conservative complexity of what has come to be called the New agenda of the New Right with at least some Right is illustrated in Rebecca Klatch's work, feminist approaches. For example, in her book The Women of the New Right, a book which dissects New Victorians, Rene Denfeld compares the women's participation in the New Right in the approach of feminists to the conservative and United States. Klatch argues that there are at least restrictive morality of the Victorian era. She is two streams of New Right conservativism: one is especially critical of feminist approaches to rooted the conservative Protestant worldview, and pornography, and goddess worship, which she the other is an ideology which has grown out of argues reifies existing stereotypes of what it means laissez faire approaches to economics and to be female and male (1995).Denfeld argues that government generally. Himmelstein identifies three feminism has deteriorated into a conservative aspects of New Right ideology: economic morality crusade which is not easily distinguishable libertarianism, social traditionalism and militant from any other type of conservativism. In light of anti-communism. It is the second of these with such attacks on feminism, and the ominous which conservative Protestants are most concerned, presence of the New Right, it is important to assess and it is primarily on this basis that the New Right both where feminism is, and who comprises the has been able to attract religious supporters (1983). grassroots supporters of the New Right in Canada. The two groups are diverse, and do not always The purpose of this paper is to examine one group of women ~ conservative Protestants or themselves as Christian and who understood the evangelicals ~ who are sometimes summarily solutions to their marital difficulties through a categorized as being collaborators in the Christian worldview. I became intrigued by the promulgation of the New Right agenda. I will argue variety of responses to marital breakdown by the that such categorization is indeed a mistake, and Christian churches in my community, and the ways from a strategic point of view, we as feminists need in which conservative religious groups frequently to think about ways in which evangelical women shattered my preconceived notions about who they can come to feel more comfortable identifying with were, and how they responded to the needs of the feminist agenda, without, of course, their women in crisis. compromising that agenda. As we will see, while As a feminist, I wanted to incorporate there are pockets of "new right collaborators" feminist research principles into my study at both a among women within the evangelical community, theoretical and a methodological level. For initial more commonly there are women who support, at guidance, I turned to the works of Sandra Harding least in some measure, feminist strategies and (1987) and Marie Mies (1983). Sandra Harding approaches. By dismissing evangelical women as argues against attempting to identify specific being part of the New Right, we create barriers feminist research methods, but rather distinguishes which further alienate them from the feminist what she claims are three features of feminist project, in contrast to their heavy involvement research: 1) its focus on gender as a category to be during the first wave of feminism. analyzed and critiqued; 2) its generation of The discussion in this paper is based on problems from the perspective of women; and 3) interviews with 94 evangelical women in Atlantic the placing of the researcher in the context of the Canada. Women from three of the four Atlantic research so that the researcher's historical provinces (Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and New specificity is revealed. Harding insists that Brunswick) were interviewed, and included both quantitative methods should not necessarily be Baptist and Wesleyan participants. Both excluded from the feminist research repertoire, but denominations have long been established in whatever the methodology, it should take into Atlantic Canada, and each has a history of account the three features of feminist research evangelism. The interviews were semi-structured in outlined above. format, and lasted an average of 90 minutes. The The work of Maria Mies (1983), which participants were nearly evenly divided in expands on the three features of feminist research employment status between part-time employed in outlined by Harding, also provided some guidelines the paid labour force, full-time employed, and as to the overall methodology of a feminist research full-time homemakers. The majority of the project. Her suggestion that research be entered into participants had some post-secondary education, with an approach of conscious partiality forced me most were married, and the average number of to think about my preconceptions in relation to children was 2.5. evangelical Christians, a position which became a The research emerged from the work of way of thinking throughout the research, not simply the Religion and Violence Research Team at the an initial consideration. Muriel McQueen Fergusson Centre for Family Mies also argues that research must be Violence Research at the University of New "research from below" (1983:123) and that it must Brunswick. The Team's research focuses on the be "brought to serve the interests of dominated, response of organized religion to violence against exploited and oppressed groups, particularly women. This specific project focused on church women."1 While it is well-recognized that women women and their understanding of and response to have been marginalized by sociological research woman abuse. My interest in this research is rooted (Smith, 1987), I would argue that evangelical in my own experiences: during the nearly five years women have been doubly disadvantaged. Not only in which I practised family law, I represented a are they marginalized because they are women, but number of women clients who described they have also been largely ignored-both as "sisters" and as worthy subjects for research-by the research will work to change the status quo, a feminist community. It was in part for this reason process which I believe has already begun through that I wanted to include as many women as possible the interview process, during which countless in my study in order to be able to argue that the women have said "you have really made me think results speak in some way about the lives of about this issue." Such "conscientization" is the first evangelical women in Atlantic Canada in general. step to change and action (Mies, 1983:127). Understanding how church women respond to and Finally, it was my hope that this research understand woman abuse can provide resources to would reveal some of the commonalities between evangelical women both as abused women and as evangelical women (some of whom describe service providers, to their faith communities, and to themselves as feminists), and their secular "sisters" secular groups who work to end violence against in their struggle to meet the needs of abused women. In entering this research it was my hope women. Revealing common ground may work to that this project might in some way empower its counteract the sometimes exclusionary politics of participants, who work within a context which is feminism which often works to label all often overwhelmingly patriarchal } Conservative Protestant women as "right wing," For me, research from below also took on and thus minimizes any contribution they might another dimension in that I had to struggle to make to the overall emancipation of women, respect the voices which expressed views different including the struggle to end violence against from my own; there was, admittedly, sometimes a women. These considerations of feminist method tendency to think of myself as the "enlightened and methodology were not only part of the initial feminist from above." My early graduate studies in design phase of the research, but remained an feminist theory and method were especially element of the process of the research as I influenced by the work of Dorothy Smith, who conducted the interviews and analyzed the data.4 emphasizes the importance of women's standpoints (1987), and it was the influence of that work which HISTORICAL CONTEXT often acted as a "reality check" for me.
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