It's All About the Patriarchy

or why I am feeling both angry and sad about the thing I've been celebrating.

I am wonderfully excited about the election of a woman as the Presiding Bishop; she is eminently qualified to do the job, and her initial statements have been exemplary in their emphasis on reconciliation and healing in the church, something we badly need these days.

But from all sides--and primarily from men on all sides--I hear so much negativity, so much criticism, so much b***s*** about how the church isn't ready for a woman leader, we need to think more about the consequences of this action, this is a slap in the face for Anglicans who don't accept women's ordination as priests to say nothing of women as bishops.

I expected to hear this from the conservatives, who have been spoiling for a fight ever since convention began (actually ever since GC last met in 2003). But it's similar responses from moderates and liberals that I find most disheartening. At first I was just sad, but right this minute I am burning with anger. The response that put me over the top was a criticism by a male priest of the "triumphalism" of the responses of women to this election. He went on to say that it was clear that women wanted a woman as presiding bishop and didn't give a sh*t about the consequences (his words).

This is absurd beyond measure. A committee comprised of men and women made the nominations. But the election itself occurred in the House of Bishops--a body that is 99% male. 188 votes were cast; of those 188, a total of 12 were women. That's right--12 out of 188 bishops present were women. So clearly, it wasn't just women wanting a female presiding bishop.

I won't apologize for celebrating. I don't celebrate because I wanted a woman presiding bishop at any cost. No, I'm celebrating because the House of Bishops was able to discern that +Jefferts Schori was one called to be PB at this time, and they didn't let gender get in the way. I am celebrating because this is a validation of women's ministry through out the church. I am celebrating because I remember when I couldn't even be an acolyte because I am a girl, and now a woman is presiding bishop. I am celebrating because this is a glorious thing.

As for the consequences, yes there will be some. But I'm increasingly convinced that the Episcopal Church cannot stop in its tracks to accommodate the beliefs of the Archbishop of Nigeria, and other who might disagree with us. Unity in the church worldwide is important. But membership in the world wide Anglican Communion is not worth sacrificing what we as a church believe we are called to do and be. That applies to women in holy orders, and that applies to full inclusion of LGBT people in the church and the blessing of their relationships.

I've always been concerned with women's issues, but I've never considered myself a radical feminist, nor an activist feminist. But this may push me over the edge. It becomes clearer and clearer to me that despite the strides we've made in terms of rights and justice for women, we are still firmly ensconced in the patriarchy. Perhaps I'm incredibly naive not to have realized it before. And sadly, my life in the church--where women have come a long way in my lifetime--has helped me reach this point. So much of the controversy in the Episcopal Church, and likely in the larger church as well, is tied up with men--mostly white straight upper-middle class men--who feel their power being threatened. They couch it in terms of biblical and theological arguments, but it still boils down to the same thing.

Twelve years ago when I was hired for my teaching job, I was the first woman to be hired on the tenure track in my department--the department with either the second largest or largest number of majors every year. The women faculty formed a women's caucus and worked hard for equity--representation on committees, fair hiring, equal treatment in the tenure process. The response of men, especially in the administration, was 'why do you need to do this?' That they had to ask that is indicative of why we had to do it. Over the 8 years I was there, the balance shifted and women approached 40% of the faculty (shocking, I know). The balance in the student body shifted as well, and women comprised 51-52% of the student body--and they comprised the majority of the honor graduates. All of this at a college that was not coed until 1975. The last two years I was there, a great hue and cry arose about the threatened status of men on campus. We needed to recruit more men. We shouldn't try to hire women faculty. We needed special tutors for male students becasue clearly the academic enviroment was not friendly for them. I just want to shriek. And I see that reflected in the church in large and small ways. There are more women priests than ever before, and women have become bishops. Women are good at ministry. The patriarchy is threatened again. And worldwide it is even worse.

Some of you are probably thinking, "didn't she know this before?" Well, on some level I did. I got angry when I was teaching, too. But the criticism of our "triumphalism" today was like a slap in the face. I won't kow-tow to the partiarchy. I won't become like them to succeed. (and I am tempted to write...I am woman, hear me roar, but that would be cheesy wouldn't it?) :)

This has turned into a rant, and I don't have time to really edit it, but ya know what? I am going to post it anyway....and then back to packing for VACATION and the WEDDING (more on those later!)