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Relig 210 Conference Panel Project Prof. Dees Panel: Religion, Gender, and Sexuality Throughout the Universe Throughout the history of our universe, it is known that women made many strides in fighting for individual rights. To say their impact was significant is an understatement. However, less is known about the historical interactions of religion and feminism. According to Feminism, Religion, and the Politics of History
, larger feminist movements tend to view religion as a hinderance to the cause (Whitehead 2011, p. 9). Even though religion was used to defend existing inequalities, women still used it to criticize the status quo and reform their religious organizations (Faver 2000, p. 62-63). The panelists will discuss “the role of religion as a ‘disruptive force’” in catalyzing social change (Faver 2000, p. 61). Lead panelist Zaphod Beeblebrox will discuss the biblical arguments of the Females Are Real Movement, and his role as the president of the galaxy. Despite the improbability, it is a coincidence that the Betelgeusian Christian Bible is the same as the one on Earth. Katniss Everdeen and Trillian Astra will share their experiences being a religious woman transitioning to a new chapter in life. Ms. Everdeen, after winning the Hunger Games, will discuss her transition from sector to celebrity life, and the accompanying religious pressures from both economic stations. Mrs. Astra’s work focuses on her conversion from Earthen to Betelgeusian Christianity. Despite matching holy text, Betelgeusian femininity did not exist until Mrs. Astra came into the spotlight. Finally, Nameyname McPerson will discuss the futility of the using Christian Bible in Earth’s Woman’s Suffrage movement. The significance of Christianity in many female driven social movements varies, but and this panel will bring those diverse topics into
the conversation. Note from Dr. Dees: after Covid broke, some Spring 2020 students came up with their own imaginary panels, which is why some of this is a bit fanciful! Sources Cited Faver, Catherine A. "To Run and Not Be Weary: Spirituality and Women's Activism." Review of Religious Research
42, no. 1 (2000): 61-78. Accessed April 19, 2020. doi:10.2307/3512144. Whitehead, Deborah. "Feminism, Religion, and the Politics of History." Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion
27, no. 2 (2011): 3-9. Accessed April 19, 2020. doi:10.2979/jfemistudreli.27.2.3. Individual Abstract: Futile Christianity in Woman's Rights and Suffrage In the beginning God created Adam and Eve, then Eve ate the apple and messed it all up, for which God punished her to be a stay-at-home wife. This was common rhetoric from opposition to the Woman's Suffrage movement. Although it was not the main focus of the Woman's Suffrage debate, religion played a significant role. For biblical arguments to work for suffragists, they had to be careful to frame their argument as interpretive rather than aggressive. An example of an interpretive approach to validating woman's right to vote was Elizabeth Cady Stanton's Women's bible, which was still dismissed with harsh criticism. Black women were also active in their own church and suffrage movement but were often excluded by white suffragists and challenged by racism. Ultimately, religious approaches in promoting Woman's Suffrage were not fruitful, and often led to harsh backlash. Because of the backlash suffragists received from their feminist interpretations, biblical arguments for suffrage were uncommon. However, when they did utilize the holy book, they did not attack the standing interpretation of passages relating to woman.
Instead, they reinterpreted it as an ally of equality and woman's suffrage (Kirkley 1990, p. 509). The creation story of Adam and Eve was a common subject of debate. Suffragists asserted that God created womanhood to be perfect, "capable of wonderful power of thinking and speaking and acting" (Kirkley 1990, p. 509). However, antisuffragists countered arguments focusing on Eve's "original sin," claiming that for her disobedience in eating the Apple, God commanded that woman's desire was to be her husband, who is meant to rule over her (Kirkley 1990, p. 511). The words of Jesus' disciples about women also drew discussion. Suffragists even cited Jesus as an emancipator of all, including women, making everyone equal (Kirkley 1990, p. 510). There were many other biblical passages which caused interpretive controversy, but one woman took it a step further with the Woman's Bible. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a prominent suffragist, published two volumes of the Woman's bible in 1895 and 1898. She was among the first wave of feminist and religious scholars. This wasn't a separate bible for women but acted as a collection of religious and scholarly commentary on the holy text (Mace 2009, p. 5). It provided a pro-
feminism interpretation, akin to how the Skeptic's Annotated Bible provides an atheist commentary. However, like other women claiming that God intended for women to have voting rights, she was faced with harsh criticism. Her work was attack by an antisuffragist poster claiming the Woman's Bible was "proof of the heretical, blasphemous notions that woman suffrage would bring to the South" (Kirkley 1990, p. 512). On January 23, 1896, the article Looking for Victory
in the Bismark Daily Tribune quoted strong opinions on the Woman's Bible. It claimed that most Christian suffragists disproved of the book, who proclaimed that it was "making the suffrage movement the
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purveyor of infidelity." Second-wave feminist scholars eventually recognized the Women's Bible as an important source of scholarly discussion on woman's rights (Mace 2009, p. 8). Despite the importance of Stanton's work, she was a racist who opposed giving voting rights to African American women. This was an ugly, yet popular sentiment, especially in the South. However, African American women played a significant role in the Woman's Suffrage movement. The Black Baptist Church served as the piazza for African American communities. Scholars and activists, including the two thirds majority of whom were women, could publicly debate and share ideas (Higginbotham 1994, p. 7). These female black suffragists relied heavily on the Bible to state their case, as it was the most respected entity in African American communities (Higginbotham 1994, p. 2). Sojourner Truth, among others such as Jarena Lee and Anna Julia Cooper, was one of these women who weighed on suffrage. At a suffrage convention, she used biblical metaphors and passages to argue why women deserved the vote just as much, if not more, than men. Among them included metaphors on Jesus’ sheep and pointing out that it was women who had faith to search for Jesus, even after his crucifixion (Margaret 2009, p. 339). In response, Sojourner was often insulted with racist and sexist slurs during her speeches (Nelson 1979, p. 22). This was another testament of the antisuffragist aggression to suffrage's biblical components. The quest for woman's suffrage was a long and arduous journey. The struggle persisted for a century, with opposition from every angle possible, including the religious institutions which dominated society at the time. When suffragists wanted to frame their movement as a religious crusade of righteousness, they were faced with strong
antisuffragist theology and accusations of heresy. The Woman's Bible by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, now relevant to contemporary feminism, was the most ambitious of the religious crusade. However, it caused such controversy that antisuffragists and fellow allied suffragists to mark it as a book of infidelity. It is also important to mention the contributions of African American suffragists, who's community was centered around their church and Bible. These black women made great strides in their church, with great leaders and orators such as Sojourner Truth utilizing the ever-important Bible to argue for Woman's Suffrage. Truth and African American female suffragists were faced with vigorous racist, sexist, and religious hostility. However, such antisuffragist hostility was present for all women of suffrage. For this movement, Christianity proved to be a tool for oppressing woman and their righteous voices. Sources Cited Higginbotham, Evelyn Brooks. “Women and the Black Baptist Church.” African American Studies Center, July 2005. https://doi.org/10.1093/acref/9780195301731.013.43924. Jewell, M. H. “Looking for Victory.” Bismark Daily Tribune
, January 23, 1896. Kirkley, Evelyn A. “‘This Work Is God's Cause’: Religion in the Southern Woman Suffrage Movement, 1880-1920.” Church History
59, no. 4 (1990): 507–22. www.jstor.org/stable/3169146. Mace, Emily R. "Feminist Forerunners and a Usable Past: A Historiography of Elizabeth Cady Stanton's The Woman's Bible." Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion
25, no. 2 (2009): 5-23. Accessed May 1, 2020. doi:10.2979/fsr.2009.25.2.5. Nelson, Marjory. "Women Suffrage and Race." Off Our Backs
9, no. 10 (1979): 6-22. Accessed May 1, 2020. www.jstor.org/stable/25793145. Washington, Margaret. "“Was Woman True?”: Sojourner, Suffrage and Civil Rights." In Sojourner Truth's America, 334-54. University of Illinois Press, 2009.