Gracious Submission

Southern Baptist Fundamentalists and Women

Bibliographic Data

ID23211632
AuthorsSusan Shaw (0000-0001-7160-853X, corresponding author), Susan M Shaw
Year2008
Volume20
Issue1
Pages51-77
Publication date2008-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueNWSA Journal (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1040-0656 • E-ISSN: 1527-1889
PublisherProject MUSE (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1353/ff.2008.a236180
OpenAlexW1606556703
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited17

In 1979, fundamentalists began a movement to take control of the sixteen million-member Southern Baptist Convention. At the heart of their social agenda was the appropriate place of women in church, home, and society. Using rhetorical analysis, this article examines the resolutions and other key documents produced by the Convention since the 1970s and finds that under fundamentalist leadership, the Convention has developed an ideology that narrowly circumscribes gender roles for women around issues of women’s sexuality, reproduction, homes, and careers. Additionally, the resolutions suggest that fundamentalists have particularly targeted women pastors in these resolutions as a singular threat to patriarchal control.

Sociology · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Race, History, and American Society · Theological Perspectives and Practices