Lecture Discusses Biblical Influence of Gender Discrimination

Professor Valarie Ziegler gives a lecture
on Thursday at the Stieren Theater
Photos by Abi Birdsell

By Abi Birdsell

Trinity University hosted Valarie Ziegler, professor of religious studies from DePauw University, on Thursday to give a talk on gender discrimination related to the Christian belief and its impact on popular culture.

Ziegler’s lecture was titled “Submission, Sex and Sinraptors: The Evangelical Adam as Alpha Male in American Popular Culture,” as part of the Lennox Seminar, a yearly speaker series hosted by different departments. This year’s theme is “(Re)inventing the Bible,” which examines how communities throughout history have created and recreated the Bible.

The talk focused on the modern effort by conservative evangelicals and important religious authorities to model American society in the image of Eden. As a result, the subordination and submission of woman to men is emphasized.

The biblical idea of marriage, family, and dating, which is discriminating towards women, also affects the greater American culture, Ziegler told the audience in the Stieren Theater.

One key piece of evidence Ziegler presented was the recent Duggar family scandal. The Duggar family, stars of TLC's reality TV show “19 Kids in Counting,” lives a strictly biblical family life: no use of contraception, traditional gender roles, courtship by way of dating, etc.

Last year it was revealed that Josh Duggar, the eldest son in the Duggar family, had been using a website called AshleyMadison.com to engage in extra marital affairs. Josh’s younger sisters also alleged he was sexually inappropriate with them while a teenager.

Rather than condemning Josh for his behavior and infidelity, Josh’s mother attributes his behavior to the failure of his wife. According to the mother, it is the godly duty and purpose of a wife to meet any and all of her husband’s wants.

 

Under that expectation, Josh is not responsible for his despicable behavior, but his wife is, for not fulfilling Josh’s needs. This example illustrated just how far the conservative evangelical expectation could subjugate women under men.

“I didn’t realize how the word of the Bible could be misconstrued to such a level,” said Ariana Razavi, a freshman at Trinity, after the lecture. “By some of the logic these evangelical leaders are promoting, women would lose so many social libraries. It’s ridiculous.”

Other audience members also found the lecture informative. “I hadn’t realized that there had been such a push for people to lead a traditional evangelical lifestyle, and how by doing so the submission of women to men happens,” said Alex Cohen, a sophomore of International Studies.

The next talk in the Lennox Seminar series is going to be "The Constitutional Conundrum of Teaching 'Bible History' in American Public Schools," held on Wednesday, April 13th in the Fiesta Room.