Black Baptist women deployed biblical orthodoxy to claim gender equality

Evidence

During the last two decades of the nineteenth century black Baptist women increasingly challenged such examples of gender inequality. Working within the orthodoxy of the church, they turned to the Bible to argue for their rights—thus holding men accountable to the same text that authenticated their arguments for racial equality. … Black women expressed their discontent with popular conceptions regarding “woman’s place” in the church and society at large. — Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Righteous Discontent, 563

Categorization

• XREF: The ‘holding men to their own sacred text’ move parallels the broader tactic of oppressed groups using their oppressors’ own legitimating documents (Declaration of Independence, US Constitution) against them. — connects to: Black Baptist women invoked biblical heroines to justify denominational gender parity — Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Righteous Discontent: The Women’s…, 594; Black Baptist feminists built their claims on biblical women like Deborah and Huldah — Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Righteous Discontent: The Women’s…, 623; Black Baptist churches granted full manhood rights to men while ghettoizing women — Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Righteous Discontent: The Women’s…, 46 (+9 more)

Broader Connections

• Black Baptist women invoked biblical heroines to justify denominational gender parity #expands (0.95) — Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Righteous Discontent, 594
• Black Baptist feminists built their claims on biblical women like Deborah and Huldah #exemplifies (0.90) — Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Righteous Discontent, 623