Disorderly Women - Sexual Politics and Evangelicalism in Revolutionary New England (Paperback, New edition)

Throughout most of the eighteenth century and particularly during the religious revivals of the Great Awakening, evangelical women in colonial New England participated vigorously in major church decisions, from electing pastors to disciplining backsliding members. After the Revolutionary War, however, women were excluded from political life, not only in their churches but in the new republic as well. Reconstructing the history of this change, Susan Juster shows how a common view of masculinity and femininity shaped both radical religion and revolutionary politics in America. Juster compares contemporary accounts of Baptist women and men who voice their conversion experiences, theological opinions, and proccupation with personal conflicts and pastoral controversies. At times, the ardent revivalist message of spiritual individualism appeared to sanction sexual anarchy. According to one contemporary, revival attempted "to make all things common, wives as well as goods." The place of women at the center of evangelical life in the mid-eighteenth century, Juster finds, reflected the extent to which evangelical religion itself was perceived as "feminine"-emotional, sensional, and ultimately marginal. In the 1760s, the Baptist order began to refashion its mission, and what had once been a community of saints-often indifferent to conventional moral or legal constraints-was transformed into a society of churchgoers with a concern for legitimacy. As the church was reconceptualized as a "household" ruled by "father" figures, "feminine" qualities came to define the very essence of sin. Juster observes that an image of benevolent patriarchy threatened by the specter of female power was a central motif of the wider political culture during the age of democratic revolutions.

General

Imprint:	Cornell University Press
Country of origin:	United States
Release date:	October 1996
First published:	October 1996
Authors:	Susan Juster
Dimensions:	229 x 152 x 14mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback - Trade / Trade
Pages:	224
Edition:	New edition
ISBN-13:	978-0-8014-8388-2
Categories:	Books > Humanities > History > World history > 1750 to 1900 Books > Humanities > History > American history > General Books > Humanities > History > History of specific subjects > Social & cultural history Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > Christianity > Protestantism & Protestant Churches > General Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Gender studies > Women's studies > General Books > History > American history > General Books > History > History of specific subjects > Social & cultural history Books > History > World history > 1750 to 1900 Books > Religion & Spirituality > Christianity > Protestantism & Protestant Churches > General Books > Christianity > Protestantism & Protestant Churches Promotions
LSN:	0-8014-8388-3
Barcode:	9780801483882

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