A look at sexism. . .

This summer, at Emory's Youth Theological Initiative we discussed many things over the course of the month.  One of the issues that we spent a good while on was the issue of sexism in today's culture.

At first,  I honestly  didn't know what the big deal was about.  Sure, old men call me "sweetie" during church related business meetings and commercials and advertisements featuring women can be pretty raunchy.  But, I figured that that was the way it is and that it wasn't hurting anyone.

Well, after watching one of the "Killing Us Softly" documentaries featuring the role advertising plays in furthering sexism (produced by Jean Kilbourne) I began to understand what an important and real issue sexism is in today's culture and in my own life.   The video that we watched at YTI was entitled "Still Killing Us Softly" and was filmed in 1987.  Unfortunately that one wasn't on Youtube.com so I had to go with the newer, "Killing Us Softly III". Take a look:

After coming home from my month with YTI I couldn't turn on the T.V. without cringing for more than a month!

I honestly don't think sexism is something young people really think about too often.  It's one of those "isms" that have fallen by the wayside;  we don't think it's an issue anymore.  And, I have to wonder why that is?

Sexism was never discussed during school like racism was and is.  Sure, you cover the suffragists and voting rights, but all of that is in the context of  "back in the day".  I honestly can say  that I have never heard the word "sexism" spoken in a classroom.  Since sexism is never mentioned young people assume that it can't be an issue in today's world.

In thinking about sexism this summer I came to a very very startling realization in regards to sexism in the Church (at least it was a startling realization to me):  I don't personally know any woman who is the senior pastor of a church.  I know of  2 women who are senior pastors, but I have never met them.  When I compared that with the amount of senior pastors whom I personally know who are men the difference was shocking to me.

I think one of the main things that shocked me (and scared me)  -- beyond not personally knowing any women who are senior pastors -- was the fact that I had never even noticed sexism as somthing that exists in today's world until then. Sexism -- like in school -- is not discussed (in my experience)  in church. . .

Why is that?

Have you ever thought about it?

Comments

[gavin]

a powerful video. and very relevant as i'm wondering much the same why we don't name the sexism within our society, especially being a youth minister. currently i have two youth that i know who have been hospitalized within the last month due to eating disorders.

thinking of the church, it is still a bit of an old boys club. however, i've got one good friend who is a senior pastor (small churches, but that is where she lives, and is still schooling). the larger church are easily pastored by men.

[beth]

Natalie -
Great post, great clip.
I think that the 'isms' we *don't* talk about are the ones that are the most dangerous. They may be less overt than they once were, but since they are 'under cover', they are more easily ignored, it is easier to pretend they don't exist, that problems are 'solved' and people should quit complaning about said 'ism'. Sexism is of course alive and well, and this clip reminded me that, like the speaker said, we aren't unaffected by advertising, even if we'd like to pretend we are impervious to the pictures painted of what we should be.

[Luke]

Hmmm. It's an interesting video. I've heard that our younger generation responds considerably differently to ads than older ones do. I wonder how dated those ads are, or exactly what context they were in. I can't say I read many women's magazines, but compared to ads I see other places, some of those ads in the video seem pretty heavy-handed compared to ads that are more subtle, forthright (or appearing to be so), or even that mock the whole advertising form.

As far as the church, I haven't seen much true discussion of any kind of "-ism" that we face as society or church. I feel like "it" (racism, sexism, etc.) is acknowledged in some circles to be insidious and all-pervasive, and it is ignored by other circles. The result seems to be either fervent affirmative action or business as usual, both with no meaningful dialogue.

Good stuff (the blog, not sexism). Good luck with college apps, by the way.

-Luke

[Lorna]

one issue which is connected is the question of women in ministry -while this isn't an issue per se in UMC - it is some kind of glass ceiling that women are rarely senior pastors within the UMC and outside of the USA I'm not sure there are women bishops at all.

The church isn't the only area either - and I agree with your thoughts that sexism exists at many levels, yet it isn't talked about much in school or in church. When it is - it's usually linked with our stand (viewpoint) on homosexuality. Why, I have no idea really.

I like what you write. I bless your exploration of issues that are of importance and pray that you can always focus on Jesus as you do so. That will keep you sane and remind you that no one of us can carry (or fix) the burdens of this world - but that yoked with Jesus we are always a winning team.

[David]

Natalie,
I have been looking at salary figures til my eyes have turned dry as of late.
Two figures have really caught my attention since I have a wife and sister in ordained ministry, as well as myself.

The median (middle #, not average) salary for men with a graduate degree is $71,918/yr and for women with a graduate degree it is $47,318/yr.

In the clergy (general, I don't have UM numbers yet) the figure is formedian weekly earnings. Men make $813/wk and women $597/wk.

This is definitely sexist in its leanings. One other anecdotal piece of data I have (because I do not have the source to affirm or deny) is that men and women with the same jobs find that women have higher salaries. It just goes to show that women are not making it to the top as often, and quite possibly it shows that women are being passed over for better positions and raises.

Sexism still exists, and it may even be worse in the church than elsewhere.

Peace,
David

[Questing Parson]

Thank you for this post. I've as of this hour referred six young folks to it.

[Melissa]

Thanks for sharing the video; very, very powerful.

For the church, I think it varies with what part of the country you are from. In the UMC in New England, the balance is slowly shifting - we usually have more women ordained than men in a year, and I think we're the conference with the highest percentage (35%...off of http://www.gcfa.org/PDFs/Gender2004.pdf). New England is very attuned to issues of gender, for which I am very thankful.

[Sarah]

What a powerful video--thanks for highlighting it!

I've never really had sexism affect my life noticeably; I know plenty of female senior pastors, the schools I've gone to have always been attentive to gender issues, being female helped put me at the TOP of the list for my grad school application, etc., but I know that's not the case for everyone.

[Sunday's Child]

I am a Director of Christian Education, and I preach once a year as we kick-off our Sunday School year. This year a man said to me on his way out of church, "You know, I never like listening to women preach, but you did a good job."

It took me a second to come up with an answer ("Thanks, I think . . .).

This exchange is pretty typical of my experience with sexism in the church (at least in my denomination)--it is in the undertones and subtle enough to keep us from discussing it.

great post.

[A.Lin]

Ahhh!! You went to YTI!!! I can't even read the blog yet. I am in shock.

I went to YTI the very first year they had it at Chandler. That was 1993. I was a naive, country girl from North Carolina. But the experience changed my life.

Now I'll have to go back and read this entry.

It is great to meet a fellow YTIer!!

[A.Lin]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and the video clip. I aspire to be a pastor, but I haven't got there yet. I wonder what would happen if I began to initiate conversation about sexism with members of my church....

I'll be thinking about that.

Good to meet you. I'll check in on your blog from time to time.

[Olive Morgan]

Interesting reading! It's not just men who don't like to listen to a female preacher. A lady I bring to church is adamant that she won't come if there's a female preacher (after two services led by women that 'fell rather flat') but she never misses coming to the other services.

Now a personal plea, if I may. For two years I have enjoyed blogging with Modblog which had a large number of young bloggers and it was a great joy to share conversation with them. Modblog appears to have died and I am frantically searching for a new server with a young clientele. I will be so glad of suggestions, please.

[don't eat alone]

Natalie

Good, thoughtful stuff.

As the husband of a senior pastor, I write to offer you hope. I wish you could meet Ginger. She works hard to not only talk about sexism but to challenge people to change both their values and their behaviors.

I think one of the challenges in the church is to look at our language. For the most part, we use almost exclusively male language when we talk about God, who is not exclusively male. We still act as if "men" can be used to mean all people. It was only a universal term when women were considered property. Some ministers still "give the bride away," which also harkens back to days when women were property being exchanged between father and groom.

Keep speaking up. Make a nuisance of yourself. Make people look at how they talk and what they do in church. You are not alone.

If you want a good resource on church language, read Brain Wren's "What Language Shall I Borrow."

Peace,
Milton

PS -- If you have time, please read my post "Missing the Point" at http://donteatalone.blogspot.com/2006/10/missing-point.html -- one more thing: I'm adding a link to your blog on mine.

[Mrs. M]

Hey, Natalie,

Yup, I've been doing a lot of thinking about this over the last few months. I agree strongly with Milton about this being partly a language issue-- we've trained ourselves to exclude women.

I'd like to encourage you (and it sounds like you don't need my encouragement here) to think about the other ways that some of these attitudes affect your life. My sweet, sensitive, feminist husband and I had a real wakeup call about a year after we were married-- sexism sneaks in even for those who idealogically oppose it.

My prayers are with you, and I'm so excited for you about this new growth in awareness (even if it's unpleasant).

One more thought-- there's an incredible show/book called the v*g*n* monologues (I'm not sure that word will escape censorship) that's really healing for woman. Might be worth looking into.

[LutheranChik]

Delurking this week...good for you, for exploring the issue of sexism and its implications for especially younger women. I've noticed that, among my younger female friends, it's almost politically incorrect to address issues of sexism in society; that the thing to do is to cop an attitude of cynicism and denial: "That kind of thing doesn't affect my life." Speaking as a middle-aged broad...oh, yes, it does. Thanks for keeping the discussion going in your peer group.

BTW, if you're not already acquainted with Bitch magazine, it's a great resource for exploring women's issues -- and it's very witty and edgy. Their editors/writers have a keen eye for societal sexism.

[Chelsey]

Right now i am writing a report for college on sexiam. Well first off I disagree with sexism. I believe women should have equal pay as men and that they should have equal oppertunities in life. Girls should be allowed on the football team and boys should be able to play volley ball. But I most certainly could tell you why you never see women pastors. I think you would know why if you were to spend a little more time in your bible. Women are not to speak in churches acording to the Bible which is the Lords word. Women have other just as important roles such as soul winning. only back slidden churches who do not follow the word of God have women pastors. Maybe you should attack a less biblical issue such as, "Why are there not women presidents." I think you would have a better case with that... but never challenge the Word of God. When you odviously know so little about it.

[Jessy]

I was in search of a completely different topic when I happened upon this page. I saw that there was a video after scanning over just a little bit of the contents and decided to sit back and see what it had to say.

All I can say about the video is that I wish more would view it. Our society needs a wake up call because of indeed what is being portrayed to most others. I was shocked a bit by some of the statistics but it makes sense to me and I have seen it. I just pray my daughter doesn't fall for things such as this but at some point I know she will... it is unfortunatly the way of life now.

I just wanted to say thank you for putting that up to where others can see it, even if it is just by chance.

[Britney]

Great site. I will bookmark for my sons to view as well!!!/

[Kathy]

I thank the Lord for giving us the gift of brilliant preachers!

[Dan]

Excellent site - do keep up the good work.a

[judy]

I thank the Lord for giving us the gift of brilliant preachers!+

[Stankuba]

Hey, I just wanted to thank you for creating such great software.

[url=http://www.bookmark-submitter.co.cc]Bookmarking Demon[/url] makes getting backlinks so much easier, and it's helped my exposure, helped me get more traffic, and even rank significantly higher in the search engines.

Whenever I make a new page, article, or Squidoo lens, I fire up [url=http://www.bookmark-submitter.co.cc]Bookmarking Demon[/url] and let it go to work. Great piece of software - I use it almost every day.

[wwuyb]

Hi, you have a nice site. Really good job! Respect :)

[Scophormumnimum]

auatfrycokufzfzfwell, hi admin adn people nice forum indeed. how's life? hope it's introduce branch ;)

[Julia]

You guys do a wonderful job! Keep up the good work!!!