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Reviews
| The Religious History of American Women: Reimagining the Past, edited by Catherine A. Brekus. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2007. 352 pages. $19.95, paper.
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| For decades, historians of American women's history have sought to draw women into the common historical narrative of the nation's development. In spite of the many accomplishments in this area, historians of American religious history, in general, still largely marginalize women, even treating them as anomalies rather than placing them at the forefront. Men continue to take center stage as the driving force for major religious movements while women, in the words of contributor Janet Moore Lindman, are "relegated to a particular section or chapter" of books (p. 143). Furthermore, religious institutions and entire denominations have often marginalized or ostracized women who stepped out of their prescribed sphere to participate in major social movements (abolition, civil rights, and feminism), leading many historians to conclude that women had to dismiss their faith as a hurdle to progress. In contrast, Catherine A. Brekus's edited anthology, The Religious History of American Women: Reimagining the Past, successfully demonstrates through the course of twelve essays that women in fact were prominent in the social and religious movements of the nation's history. Through an examination of various Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish women, this book challenges historians to broaden their notions of religious authority and to view women as agents of social change whose motivation stems from their faith, rather than in spite of it. |
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A common theme throughout the book is that women demonstrate the "lived experience" of religion, that is, religion incorporated into daily lives rather than wielded for political or sectarian purposes (p. 144). It is then by examining the lived experience that we gain a better understanding of the influence of religion on the American nature. For instance, Marilyn J. Westerkamp invites the reader to regard New England author Anne Dudley Bradstreet, rather than John Winthrop, as the "quintessential Puritan," and to consider Anne Hutchinson's unofficial leadership role as a better illustration of the dissenting Puritan nature than that of the men who imposed the restrictions. Other accounts of lived experiences further complicate traditional narratives and interpretations. For example, Brekus challenges the assertions of scholars Joan B. Landes, Carole Pateman, and Phyllis Mack (among others) who assert that the enlightenment period silenced women, or at least, caused radical females to "echo masculine values" (p. 116). On the contrary, through an analysis of Sarah Osborne's eighteenth-century writings, Brekus reveals the convergence of religious thought and enlightenment concepts as evidenced in Osborne's life and community religious leadership. |
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Using journals, diaries, and letters, these historians have uncovered evidence of a number of women who privately questioned male authority and church tradition as they worked out their own faith and notions of salvation, of church leadership, and even of social mores. For example, Janet Moore Lindman argues that Revolutionary liberty rhetoric and New Testament examples of prophesying women combined to influence Quaker Anne Emlen's decision to remain single so that she could dedicate herself to religious study and to encouraging other believers. Likewise, the essays of Emily Clark, Anthea D. Butler, and Amy Koehlinger offer accounts of women who stepped out of society's prescribed gender roles to wield significant spiritual and social influence. Finally, this book demonstrates the role religion played as a catalyst to feminism. Contrary to the popular perspective that the two are antithetical, Ann Braude and Kristy Nabhan-Warren demonstrate how patriarchal domination in religious organizations indeed drove many women to feminism and reform, yet not at the expense of their faith, but in an effort to live it more fully. Just as eighteenth-century Quaker, Anne Emlen, found biblical justification for egalitarian liberty, so too did many second-wave feminism participants, including many key founders of the National Organization of Women (NOW). |
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This book is an excellent selection for upper-division or graduate level college courses on United States, women's, and American religious history. However, high school teachers and college professors will also find in using it the opportunity to broaden their understanding of significant themes in United States history and thus be able to offer a more inclusive representation of the nation's history. Anthologies such as this one demonstrate the feasibility of studies that recognize women as more than merely adornments and anomalies in the larger historical narrative of American religious history. |
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| American River College, Sacramento, CA |
Jennifer Aerts Terry |
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