When Female Leaders Stop Being the Exception |
You
can always find one. Whether it’s a particular industry or ministry
context, there’s always an example of one woman who has bucked the
system, paved her own path, cracked the glass ceiling, and found a place
at the top.
These
women are often touted as the pioneers leading the way in
male-dominated fields, and it’s assumed that behind them will come a new
era for women in their field. However, their stories can have the
opposite effect. Instead of normalizing women in leadership, they paint a
particular figure as the exception—she could make it work because she’s
not like the rest of us.
Halee
Gray Scott, who has researched for years on women’s leadership in
Christianity as well as male-female relationships in ministry, calls it
the “myth of the exceptional woman.”
“We
view women leaders as ‘extraordinary’ or ‘anomalies’ to a paradigm. In
recent decades, the myth that no Christian women can lead has given way
to the myth that only ‘exceptional’ or ‘extraordinary’ women can lead,”
she wrote.
“As a result, we have entered a permanent phase of pioneering, where
women continue to meet significant structural and organizational
challenges. The myth of the exceptional woman has negative ramifications
for female Christian leaders and for women in general.”
I
kept thinking of this myth Halee described as I read the news last week
that the Foursquare Church elected a male pastor as its next president
over a female denominational leader who was up for the job. Tammy
Dunahoo would have been the second woman to lead Foursquare since its
founder, Aimee Semple McPherson, nearly a hundred years ago.
Scholar Leah Panye wrote for CT Women
about why Foursquare—which celebrates Aimee Semple McPherson’s legacy,
ordains women, and endorses female leaders—has yet to put another woman
at the helm. Part of it has to do with seeing “Sister Aimee,” like so
many other women throughout church history, as the exception—the gifted,
Spirit-led leader who created a movement of her own.
Leah said:
At
CT Women, we’ve featured many women from both camps, those who have
built their own movements and ministries and those who worked their way
up in existing ones. Either way, we’re happy to celebrate the ways God’s
kingdom is going forth through the women of the church—and we trust
that, despite the struggles they may face, his Word and will will
prevail.
I think of what Natasha Sistrunk Robinson says in a recent post
on godly advice for Christian graduates—which is really good advice for
all of us—“I don’t wake up wondering whether my day is going to count
or if my life matters because my confidence lies in the person and
finished work of Christ. My identity rests in him, and for that reason, I
have accepted the work he has assigned to me.”
Kate
|
Kate Shellnutt
Editor, CT Women |
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