U.S. Intellectual History Blog

God and Women in Public Life


In celebration of women’s history month, Michelle Rafferty and I recently did a gchat on the subject of Christianity and women in public life. The chat was wide-ranging, moving from the women’s rights activists Frances “Fanny” Wright and Elizabeth Cady Stanton to the contemporary gay rights movement and Sarah Palin. Read on to find out why evangelical Christian families like to keep “sexy” in the family, what Michelle calls “the Sarah Palin effect.”

Interview in two parts: Part I, Part II.

One Thought on this Post

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  1. I must say that this was a very interesting interview that has been transcribed. I am very interested in women’s history and the movement behind it, so reading this interview was very enjoyable for me. The first part that grabbed my attention was the comment by Sehat on the two origin stories in the Bible and that Elizabeth Cady Stanton explained why the Bible should not be the only source used to “oppress women.” I couldn’t agree more. The use of the Bible to oppress women has continued throughout the ages and, as Sehat states in the second part of the interview, it all began with the eating of the apple. I don’t agree that the apple should be used to show why women should be dominated by men, as men and women should not be dominated by each other—there should be an equality among all sexes and races, but as long as there is one source that is continually quoted, equality will be hard to find and even if found, that equality will be hard to hold on to. I thought that this was a very enjoyable read and an excellent interview. As all the other posts that I have found on here, this one provides me with more information to use in the future and in my future research. Thanks again for a great post.
    –Sarah J.

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