I spent January tweeting (@joshswu) analysis of survey data about the gender norms of evangelical men. Using data from the 2020 Nationscape study, I was able to analyze attitudes based on a representative sample of around 23,000 self-identified evangelical men.
I hoped to find that evangelicals, especially evangelical men, had better perceptions and valuing of women than non-evangelicals. After all, churches teach that men and women are made in Imago Dei; women had radically empowered roles of leadership and influence in both the Old and New Testament compared to contemporary cultural practice; and almost all churches, regardless if they hold to egalitarian or complementarian doctrine, teach that men and women are equal before God.
However, I found the opposite to be true.
Instead of valuing women more, evangelical men in the Church consistently valued women less than non-evangelical men outside the Church. The data was unequivocal in suggesting that while churches advocate de jure equality, de facto patriarchy and misogyny is rampant among evangelical men.
There are countless reasons why this is a problem for the Church. This devaluing of women suggests that there is a crisis of discipleship of men. We need to examine if extra-biblical cultural biases, expectations, and norms have fused with biblical theology to present sacredlized gender norms that lead to systematic and persistent devaluing of women. It hinders our witness and integrity in presenting a distinctly Christian vision of new creations in Christ and Christian community based on unity in Christ. And we need to be aware how these attitudes translate into practices that harm women in and outside the Church.
The patriarchy and misogyny of evangelical men
The first attitude I analyzed was whether someone was more comfortable with a male over female boss. Evangelical men across all races and ethnicities are more likely to express this patriarchy preference than evangelical women. This is especially true among White and Hispanic evangelicals; about 4 in 10 White evangelical men (41%) and 39% of Hispanic evangelical men report preferring a male over female boss.
A second key attitude I analyzed was agreement with the statement “women who complain about harassment often cause more trouble than they cause.” Here, evangelicals, especially evangelical men, were more likely to hold this type of misogynic attitude. Nearly half of White (49%) and Hispanic (47%) evangelical men believe women cause more problems than they solve when they speak up. By contrast, less than 3 in 10 of non-evangelical men outside the Church believed this about women.
Considering these two attitudes together, there is strong evidence that evangelical men are significantly more likely than non-evangelical men to hold patriarchy and misogyny tendencies if not preferences. More than half of evangelical men (56%) hold one or both of these attitudes; and nearly 3 in 10 (28%) believe in both. By contrast, only about 1 in 3 (35%) non-evangelical men believe in one or both of these attitudes.
Where do we go from here?
This data cannot be ignored. It incriminates me and reminds me that I am part of the problem. Hopefully it will, as it has for me, lead to reflection and repentance. We have all, however unintentionally, reified, reproduced, and expanded perspectives, and practices that lead women inside and outside the Church to feel less than, less equal, less worthy. As such, the responsibility falls on all of us to consider how we need to recognize and reform the way that women are thought of and treated.
One place to start is to check out the wealth of recent books and resources that are addressing this distortion of biblical manhood and womanhood in the Church. Below is a list, by no means exhaustive, of resources to check out.
- Beth Allison Barr The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth (forthcoming)
- Aimee Byrd Recovering from Biblical Manhood and Womanhood: How the Church Needs to Rediscover Her Purpose
- Kristen Kobes Du Mez Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation
- Elyse Fitzpatrick and Eric Schumacher Worthy: Celebrating the Value of Women
For related tweets about gender norms in the church, check out below discussions about
- evangelicals align with most Americans about the how greater opportunity for women has improved the quality of life
- patriarchal preferences for male boss increases with income
- the relationship between strength of partisanship and patriarchal attitudes
- support for gun ownership is higher among women than men
- the link between patriarchal preferences and support for President Trump which is higher among evangelical than non-evangelical men
- perceptions of male victimhood and patriarchal preference
- perceptions of male victimhood and disbelief of women who speak up about harassment
