Black Baptist feminists softened demands to reassure men they would not seek office.

Evidence

At times Virginia Broughton appeared to soften her demands for women’s presence within the highest denominational councils and to adopt a more conciliatory attitude toward men. She urged, if sometimes with tongue in cheek, complementary work with a deeper sensitivity to what she called man’s “long cherished position of being ruler of all he surveys.” She referred to the “womanly exercise” of talent, and at a time when woman’s role was emergent but not clearly defined, she tended to assure men that women would not seek unauthorized office. — Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Righteous Discontent, 660

Categorization

• DEFINE: Shows the internal-policing side of the politics of respectability: even committed feminists curbed their claims to preempt male backlash — precisely the restraint mechanism the reader is conceptualizing.
• XREF: This performative reassurance toward men is a clear instance of the ‘politics of respectability’ restraint the reader is seeking to define. — connects to: Black Baptist women faced pulpit and voice denial even among supportive male leaders — Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Righteous Discontent: The Women’s…, 340; Some powerful male Baptist leaders chose to endorse rather than fight women’s organizational autonomy. — Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Righteous Discontent: The Women’s…, 740; Black Baptist women guarded their institutional autonomy against male intrusion — Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Righteous Discontent: The Women’s…, 363

Broader Connections

• Black Baptist women faced pulpit and voice denial even among supportive male leaders #expands (0.78) — Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Righteous Discontent, 340
• Some powerful male Baptist leaders chose to endorse rather than fight women’s organizational autonomy. #qualifies (0.75) — Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Righteous Discontent, 740
• Black Baptist women guarded their institutional autonomy against male intrusion #qualifies (0.72) — Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Righteous Discontent, 363