Study guide
Women: Justice and change W
omen in America have made great gains in the 94 years since they received the right to vote. More and more hold leadership positions—as evidenced by
our recently elected presiding bishop, Elizabeth A. Eaton, the first female to hold that post. And yet women still suf- fer greatly from discrimination, objectification, oppression, prejudice and abuse. Ingrained attitudes are hard to change, but they can be with awareness-raising and advocacy— things ELCA social statements aim to do.
Exercise 1: Patriarchal culture In the U.S., men hold most of the prominent positions of political, economic and spiritual power. While they are 51 percent of the population, women earn less than men (81 percent) and hold fewer positions of power (for example, 20 women out of 100 U.S. senators, five out of 50 state gov- ernors; 23 percent of ELCA clergy). As a result, men have the greater role in shaping “reality as we know it”—social roles, media, attitudes and public policies—along their worldview. • In what ways and with what issues do women still struggle for a voice and for justice? • How true today is that old expression “It’s a man’s world”? • What evidence do you see for this? • How does it affect your life, family and community?
Exercise 2: Sexism Women face harm from sexism evidenced in such things as “blonde” jokes and other put-downs, not being listened to, being stereotyped, suffering workplace discrimination, physical abuse, or unwelcome sexual comments or advances. • Have you or a woman you know experienced sexism? How has it harmed you? Can you share? • In your experience, do the perpetrators tend to be mali- cious, ignorant or just unthinking? • Does our culture cultivate sexism? • How can the church’s planned social statement on women and justice help?
Exercise 3: Objectification As quickly as you can (don’t overthink it), list 25 impor-
By Robert C. Blezard
tant women in our culture. Now count how many of those women are prominent primarily because of their physi- cal appearance. Among the rest, how many are considered physically attractive? • Does our culture overvalue the appearance of a woman at the expense of other attributes? • Do you want your daughters, sisters, wife or female friends judged primarily by their physical appearance? • Are men similarly judged? • What is the harm?
Exercise 4: Domestic abuse Love shouldn’t hurt, should it? Yet 1.3 million women are victims of physical assault by an intimate partner each year, according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Vio- lence (
www.ncadv.org), which reports that 1 in 4 women will be a victim of domestic violence in her lifetime. Women comprise an overwhelming 85 percent of domestic violence victims. • In what ways does our culture tolerate domestic abuse toward women? • How does our culture’s glorification of macho culture (think music videos and movies) encourage men to be abusers? • Do we take domestic abuse seriously enough? • How can the church be a place where women are safe, lis- tened to and protected?
Exercise 5: Kairos moment A number of “kairos moments” in the 20th century led to pos- itive social change for women and oppressed people, argues Mary Streufert in the cover article. Each moment involved the dedicated intellectual and spiritual work of awareness-raising, changing hearts and minds, and advocacy. • How is the growing acceptance of gay and lesbian people a kairos moment for sexual minorities? • What other kairos moment issues must we face today and tomorrow? • How will we do it?
This study guide is offered as one example of the more than 390 that are currently available on The Lutheran’s website. Download guides (including a longer version of this one)—free to print and Web subscribers—at
www.thelutheran.org (click “study guides”).
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Author bio: Blezard serves as an assistant to the bishop of the Lower Susquehanna Synod. He has a master of divinity degree from Boston University and did subse- quent study at the Lutheran Seminary at Gettysburg (Pa.) and the Lutheran Seminary at Philadelphia.
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