Women's Roles And Leadership Analysis

As society transitions into the 21st century, the question of women’s roles and leadership is a dynamic and changing idea. This is true in religious institutions as well. The two female religious leaders I will be focusing on both challenge notions of gender roles, as well as sexuality and racial identity within their respective religions. Along the way, these women have faced heavy opposition from the outside world, as well as from members of their own faiths. Presbyterian minister Katie Ricks and Dr. Emilie M. Townes are groundbreaking pioneers for women of faith and force society to question how the interplay of sex, sexuality and race affect religion and religious leadership today. Katie Ricks is a Presbyterian minister who studied theology …show more content…
Emilie M. Townes is a similarly inspiring female faith leader who practices non-denominational Christianity. She currently serves as the dean of the divinity school, as well as a professor of Womanist Ethics and Society at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. She is an accomplished scholar, teacher, editor and author, having published the novels Womanist Ethics and the Cultural Production of Evil (Palgrave Macmillan Press, 2006), Womanist Justice, Womanist Hope (Scholars Press, 1993) and Breaking the Fine Rain of Death: African American Health Care and A Womanist Ethic of Care (Continuum, 1998), among many others. Rev. Townes is renowned for her unique perspectives on equality, championing the need for social, economic, racial and gender justice in an increasingly stratified America. She is also one of our nation’s leading womanist scholars. Womanism is form of intersectional feminism that focuses on the experiences of black women. The term was coined by author Alice Walker in the 1980s and it goes further than mainstream feminism in dealing with issues of injustice faced by women outside of the traditional white, middle-class feminist mold. Rev. Townes has used a womanist lens to try to examine and alleviate the ills she sees in the world. From her role in church leadership, to her mission trips to Brazil and Africa, to research on health for women of the African diaspora, Townes is lauded for forging a path for other black and brown women and for …show more content…
Townes ascent as a prominent faith leader has been a difficult journey. As a dean at a prestigious, Southern university, as well as being the first African-American to head the American Academy of Religion in 2008, she has come under fire for her both her identity and her left-wing beliefs. Push-back increased further when it was revealed that Rev. Townes is also an open lesbian, almost unheard of at such a high level of religious leadership. While researching her, the internet was filled with articles spewing hate speech and vitriolic comments about Townes leadership. People believe that someone who doesn’t adhere to the traditional Christian lifestyle shouldn’t be representing the faith at such a high level, some even pledging to protest at her speaking engagements and vowing to never send their kids to Vanderbilt. Townes has responded to this criticism time and again through interviews, writings and speeches dedicated to recognizing her own humanity and the humanity of marginalized groups in society. Minister Katie Ricks and Rev. Emilie M. Townes are pioneers of their faith. More than just being tokens, Ricks and Townes are representative of the exciting religious age we live in, one that is rapidly changing and increasingly less concerned with rigid interpretations of the “right” ways to live and to love. As leaders, advocates, critics and advisors, these women have shattered expectations of what it means to be a woman of faith