"The Women Have Had Charge of the Church Work Long Enough": The Men and Religion Forward Movement of 1911-1912 and the Masculinization of Middle-Class Protestantism

The Feminized Gospel: Aimee Semple McPherson and the Gendered Performance of Christianity

“…By the time McPherson opened Angelus Temple, the masculine backlash had been successful. Bederman (1989) explains that by the mid-1920s, Protestant divisions ''between the 'male' sphere of commerce and the 'female' sphere of religion'' had been collapsed (p. 454). Christianity had taken on a masculine, businesslike character.…”

“…This muscular Christianity, Barry Hankins (2010) explains, ''put an emphasis on the manly and heroic'' (p. 48). Whereas ''nineteenth-century evangelical Protestantism had been emotional, emphasizing the heart over the head,'' Gail Bederman (1989) recounts how the leaders of this backlash maintained that ''their religion would be manly and businesslikeand thus, useful for the masculine world of daily affairs'' (p. 441). Michael A.…”

“…Whereas religion once stood as the feminized counterpart to the masculine sphere of business and politics, an increasingly consumer-oriented corporate culture was itself so feminized that it did not demand that counterbalance. ''In short,' ' Bederman (1989) explains, ''the feminized Protestantism which informed an individualistic, producer-oriented middle class had been rendered obsolete by the development of a corporate, consumeroriented order'' (p. 437). For Bederman, the feminization of business and politics in this new corporate culture actually made feminized religion a threat; men demanded more muscular performances of faith to counterbalance their new corporate culture and the effeminacy it seemed to promote.…”

Feminization Thesis: A Survey of International Historiography and a Probing of Belgian Grounds

“…neither predominantly male nor female. 62 The active involvement of women led researchers of both Protestant and Catholic faith to situate the road to 'feminisation' as early as the 17th or 18th Century. In the case of Catholicism, and more specifically French Catholicism, these first steps are recognised in the reaction to and the active involvement in the Contra-reformation.…”

The Myth of American Jewish Feminization

“…65 The ecumenical Protestant Men and Religion Forward Movement, which was sponsored by organizations from the YMCA to the International Sunday School Committee, sought to promote men's attendance in churches and public religious life. 66 Organizations like the Knights of King Arthur and the Boys' Brigade tried to attract boys to religion, often using sports as a lure but also as a means to Jesus.…”