In this April 7, 2010 file photo, Sarah Palin, left, waves to a rally crowd in Minneapolis with Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, right. (Jim Mone - AP)
When I was a little girl, my mother told me I could be whatever I wanted to be when I grew up--a writer, a businesswoman, a chef, a mommy, a doctor, the president of the United States, whatever my heart (and GPA) inspired me to pursue.
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Her advice stood in stark contrast to the messages I received from my conservative evangelical culture, which often discouraged women from assuming leadership positions in the home, church, and society based on a widely-held complementarian view of gender . Sunday school teachers and college professors alike taught me that my ultimate calling was to be a wife and mother, not to work outside of the home. Leaders like James Dobson, John MacArthur, and John Piper have consistently warned against the growing acceptance of women in the workplace and railed against what they call the anti-Christian agenda of "radical feminism."
And so if feels a bit like stepping into an alternate reality when I read headlines describing women like Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann as "evangelical feminists."
All my life I was taught that "evangelical feminist" is an oxymoron.
Indeed, many evangelical leaders appear to be struggling to reconcile their political ambitions with the inconvenience of having women fulfill them.
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SOURCE: The Washington Post
Rachel Held Evans
