| Reflection – inequalities of power Recall relationships (in both secular and church contexts) where there have been inequalities of power between you and another person. Use Rollo May’s typology of power to identify how power was used or responded to by the other person or by you. What did you learn from those experiences about negative and positive uses of power? |
2.5. Gender and power in secular society
Historically there have been considerable differences in the ways men and women in our society have exercised power. Although patterns are changing, such differences continue to have a significant, though often unrecognized, influence. In some areas of secular employment, particularly those where women have parity of education and income, women are now established on an equal footing with men. However, women are still less likely to attain the most senior positions in secular society, they still suffer inequalities in pay and pensions and, in general, men continue to hold more social, economic and political power than women.
In secular organizations, where women now hold senior positions, the model for exercising authority still derives from a dominant masculine culture, emphasizing challenge, competitiveness, rationality and targets. Women who adopt this pattern may be criticized for being harsh and aggressive, whereas men who behave in similar ways are more likely to be seen as behaving confidently and positively. Women who do not adopt more typically masculine patterns of behaviour may experience being unheard and invisible, for example by having their ideas either ignored or attributed to male colleagues. In mixed committees, discussion groups or informal social groups it is not uncommon for subject matter to be dominated by men’s interests and for women to have difficulty in finding an opening in which to make a contribution. (Of course men may also find themselves marginalized, if they are unable or unwilling to conform to stereotypical patterns of behaviour.)
2.6. Gender and power in the Church
In the Church of England, the ordination of women to the priesthood has brought profound changes in the part that women can play in the leadership of the Church at the local level. However, it is easy to overlook how recently an entirely male priesthood ministered to predominantly female congregations. While the culture of the Church is changing, it still lags behind many of the developments in the secular world and there are relatively few women in those senior positions open to them. At diocesan and national level, church leadership is still predominantly male and, within this masculine world, even the most able and articulate women may find it difficult to have their voices heard.
Many men, ordained and lay, are affirming in their attitude towards the ministry of women and many senior staff encourage individual women clergy. However, they may still be unaware of the underlying structural issues which can disempower women in ministry. Younger women entering ordained ministry in the Church of England, or older women who have experienced the relative gender equality of secular employment, are likely to experience some culture shock as they begin training or enter parish ministry. This may not be obvious to them while things are going well, but it is likely that, when conflict or tensions arise, they will have to deal with attitudes towards women which may seem dated, patronizing, discriminatory and damaging. There are still many church contexts where gender issues cannot be spoken about without arousing bafflement or irritation from both women and men. Women with a vocation to ordained ministry need courage, wisdom and support in discerning when and how to challenge such attitudes.
2.7. Men, women and power
As human beings our similarities will always be greater than our differences. Nevertheless, it is obvious that as boys and girls, women and men, our bodily experience is different and must impact on how we experience each other and the world around us. As research into physiological influences on our behaviour progresses, our understanding of the underlying causes of the different ways in which men and women tend to think, perceive the world and interact will increase.
Amid the varied social contexts of postmodern society it is difficult to generalize about our experiences of power and gender, which are clearly far less rigidly defined than they used to be. Generalizations about gender can always be criticized for failing to honour diversity and individuality, but they may also help us to identify how we are restricted by the culture which has formed us and of which we are a part. While there may be a wide spectrum of experiences, the socialization which a child receives in family, social and school life continues to be affected by gender in ways which will influence interactions in adult life.
Typically boys and men are encouraged to develop confidence in exercising power, reinforcing the greater size and strength of their bodies and encouraging them to feel that it is good to be powerful. The energy and vitality which this familiarity with power brings can be used in creative initiatives and has an important part to play in ministry. However, its downside may be too much emphasis on men feeling they have to be strong and consequent pressure on them to deny feelings of vulnerability and weakness (Hahn 1991). As a result men who are afraid or unable to acknowledge weakness may try to avoid facing their vulnerability by self-harming behaviour such as working too hard, excessive social drinking, or escaping into extra-marital affairs. Or they may succumb to illness and exhaustion through the struggle to maintain a façade of strength and invulnerability.
Girls and women are still more likely to be socialized to be passive and responsive rather than to initiate, a pattern reinforced by the way their bodies teach women to surrender to the processes of life. The positive side of this can be a willingness to wait and trust, to be attentive, allowing and enabling things to happen rather than forcing the pace. There may also be more readiness to live with the emptiness of loss, rather than immediately wanting to fill the space with something new (Hahn 1991).
Traditionally, women have been encouraged to use their power to nurture and develop others’ gifts (for example as wives and mothers, or in professions such as teaching, nursing, social work or counselling). The nurturing and integrative use of power has always been (and still is) undervalued by secular society and this has also influenced attitudes towards the exercise of power in the Church. While enabling others to achieve their potential should be a central aim of pastoral ministry for which women’s experience equips them well, there is also the risk that women may limit their expectations of themselves and miss opportunities to explore the full extent of their gifts or to use them creatively in the public realm. Women, particularly if they are struggling for recognition of their abilities and potential, may also deny their vulnerability and, like men, they may get into self-harming patterns of overwork, excessive social drinking or extra-marital affairs. However, a woman’s pattern of self-harm is more likely to be bound up with damaging feelings of powerlessness and to take place in the privacy of home. Examples might be eating disorders, secret drinking, excessive spending or exhausting herself in trying to fulfil responsibility for cleaning, shopping, cooking and childcare to unrealistic standards, in addition to work outside the home.
2.8. Women’s access to power in the public realm
Until relatively recently most women had to rely on indirect access to power in the public realm, usually through their husband’s position. As a result, women have been less confident and experienced in using their power to influence events more directly. This has often limited their involvement in decision-making, although organizations such as the Mothers’ Union have played an important part in enabling women to find their voice and gain experience in public leadership. The ambivalence women have about being seen as powerful has led many women to underplay their power, using it behind the scenes to influence men or exercising it within the domestic sphere. When women are excluded from the exercise of power in the