Neither Complementarian nor Egalitarian: A Kingdom Corrective to the Evangelical Gender Debate

by Michelle Lee-Barnewall

The view of woman’s sphere has been called the “cult of true womanhood,” in which there was a “sharp dichotomy between the home and the economic world outside that paralleled a sharp contrast between female and male natures, the designation of the home as the female’s only proper sphere, the moral superiority of women, and the idealization of her function as mother.”11 In the cult of true womanhood, women became associated with virtues such as “purity, piety, and domesticity.”12 In comparison the highest Puritan virtues for women included industry, modesty, and good stewardship.13 This moral elevation of women contrasted sharply with other aspects of Puritan thought. For the Puritans, both men and women were considered sinful, but women were often particularly so since they were associated with Eve, who had tempted Adam and was responsible for the fall.14 However, women were now seen as the guardians of the nation’s virtue. They were the moral superiors of men, who had been corrupted through their involvement in the world and needed their guidance.