Senior Research Seminar with Dr Naomi Richman (University of Cambridge)

Beyond the Gender Paradox: Theologies of Sexuality and the Body in a Nigerian Pentecostal ChurchDr Naomi Richman (University of Cambridge)

In the anthropology of Christianity, the topic of gender has so far received less comprehensive treatment than other prominent themes, such as religious change, globalisation and the use of media technologies. In the social scientific literature on Pentecostalism, gender dynamics and especially the status of women has emerged as a more central focus, but here conversation seems to be oriented around the question of whether or not females are empowered in the Pentecostal churches, or, how they are empowered given the movement’s overwhelmingly patriarchal gender ideology. This latter question has come to be known as the ‘Pentecostal gender paradox’, a phrase coined by Bernice Martin in 2001. But what does it really mean to be ‘empowered’ in this religious context? And how far does ‘empowerment’, when deployed by anthropologists as an analytic tool, really take us towards an understanding of gender dynamics?

Motivated by recent efforts to develop a rapprochement between anthropology and theology, this paper argues that theologies of sexuality and the body are fundamental to explaining this so-called ‘gender paradox’, and to understanding gender dynamics within the movement more widely. In this way, the paper also argues for the productiveness of anthropology that seeks to be theologically engaged, not just in relation to questions of gender, but also to other phenomena of interest to anthropologists of religion.

Please note the venue for this term's seminars is lecture theatre A, in the Arts School (https://map.cam.ac.uk/Lecture+Theatre+A#52.203448,0.119533,17).