Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-5xszh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-28T08:39:31.505Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Ideology of Wifely Submission: A Challenge for Feminism?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 November 2008

R. Claire Snyder-Hall
Affiliation:
George Mason University

Abstract

This article examines the writings of women who explicitly embrace wifely submission, including those who advocate corporal punishment. Through a close reading of primary sources, the article seeks to illuminate the biblical literalist theology that underlies the ideology of wifely submission and to explain the reasons why many heterosexual women find such an ideology appealing. While many readers might be tempted to dismiss such women as antifeminist, the question of desire that their writing raises goes to the heart of a major challenge faced by contemporary feminist theory, which since the “sex wars” often remains divided between those who accept whatever women choose as feminist and those who stand in judgment of other women's choices. This article uses the case of wifely submission to examine the problem of desire, the concept of consent, and the benefits and limitations of “choice” discourse within feminist theory. It argues for a middle-ground approach that respects women as agents in their own lives, while also engaging them in reflective conversation about desire and its ramifications.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Women and Politics Research Section of the American Political Science Association 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Andelin, Helen. 2007. Fascinating Womanhood: How the Ideal Woman Awakens a Man's Deepest Love and Tenderness. New York: Bantam Books.Google Scholar
Benhabib, Seyla. 2002. The Claims of Culture: Equality and Diversity in the Global Era. Princeton: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Benjamin, Jessica. 1988. Bonds of Love: Psychoanalysis, Feminism, and the Problem of Domination. New York: Pantheon Books.Google Scholar
Boone, Wellington. 2000. Your Wife Is Not Your Momma: How You Can Have Heaven in Your Home. New York: Doubleday Religious Publishing.Google Scholar
Brame, Gloria, Brame, William D., and Jacobs, Jon. 1993. Different Loving: The World of Sexual Domination and Submission. New York: Villard Books.Google Scholar
Christian Domestic Discipline Yahoo! (CDD group) . 2007. “Homepage.” http://groups.yahoo.com/group/christiandomesticdiscipline/ (October 5, 2007).Google Scholar
Cobb, Nancy, and Grigsby, Connie. 2002. The Politically Incorrect Wife. Sisters, OR: Multnomah.Google Scholar
Coontz, Stephanie. 2006. Marriage, a History: How Love Conquered Marriage. New York: Penguin.Google Scholar
Cooper, Darien B. 1974. You Can Be the Wife of a Happy Husband. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.Google Scholar
Cornell, Drucilla. 1995. The Imaginary Domain: Abortion, Pornography, and Sexual Harassment. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
CWA (Concerned Women for America) . 2008a. “History.” http://www.cwfa.org/history.asp (March 16, 2008).Google Scholar
CWA (Concerned Women for America) . 2008b. “About CWA.” http://www.cwfa.org/about/asp (March 10, 2008).Google Scholar
DeMoss, Nancy Leigh. ed. 2002. Biblical Womanhood in the Home. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.Google Scholar
D&L (Discipline & Love) . 2008. “Homepage.” http://www.freewebs.com/disciplineandlove/ (February 28, 2008).Google Scholar
Doyle, Laura. 2001. The Surrendered Wife: A Practical Guide to Finding Intimacy, Passion, and Peace with a Man. New York: Fireside.Google Scholar
Echols, Alice. 1989. Daring to Be Bad: Radical Feminism in America 1967–1975. Minneapolis: Minnesota University Press.Google Scholar
Eggeriches, Emerson. 2004. Love and Respect: The Love She Most Desires, The Respect He Desperately Needs. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson.Google Scholar
Eldredge, John. 2001. Wild at Heart: Discovering the Secret of a Man's Soul. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson.Google Scholar
Evans, Sara M. 2003. Tidal Wave: How Women Changed America at Century's End. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Feministing org . 2007. “Wife-Spanking 101: Neither parody nor porn.” August 23. http://feministing.org/archives/007603.html (September 26, 2007).Google Scholar
Gallagher, Sally K. 2003. Evangelical Identity and Gendered Family Life. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.Google Scholar
Griffith, R. Marie. 1997. God's Daughters: Evangelical Women and the Power of Submission. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gutterman, David. 2006. Prophetic Politics: Christian Social Movements and American Democracy. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Handford, Elizabeth Rice. 1994. Me? Obey Him? Rev. ed. Murfreesboro, TN: Sword of the Lord Publishers.Google Scholar
Hirschmann, Nancy J. 2003. The Subject of Liberty: Toward a Feminist Theory of Freedom. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Hirshman, Linda. 2005. “Homeward Bound.” November 21, 1–6. http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?articleId=10659 (March 10, 2008).Google Scholar
Hughes, Barbara . 2002. “A Wife's Responsibility to Help Her Husband.” In Biblical Womanhood in the Home, ed. DeMoss, Nancy Leigh . Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 115–31.Google Scholar
Kelley, Leah. 2007a. Christian Domestic Discipline 101. N.p.: Christian Domestic Discipline Publications. Available at http://www.Lulu.com.Google Scholar
Kelley, Leah. 2007b. Consensual Christian Domestic Discipline. N.p.: Christian Domestic Discipline Publications. Available at http://www/Lulu.com.Google Scholar
LaHaye, Beverly. 1993. The Desires of a Woman's Heart: Encouragement for Women When Traditional Values Are Challenged. Wheaten, IL: Tyndale.Google Scholar
LaHaye, Tim. 1996. Understanding the Male Temperament. Colorado Springs: Fleming H. LDD (Loving Domestic Discipline). 2007. “Differences: BDSM & DD.” http://lovingdd.blogspot.com/2005/03/differences-bdsm-dd.html (March 2, 2008).Google Scholar
Linden, Robin Ruth, Pagano, Darlene R., Russell, Diana E. H., and Star, Susan Leigh, eds. 1981 Against Sadomasochism: A Radical Feminist Analysis. San Francisco: Frog in the Well.Google Scholar
Luker, Kristin. 1984. Abortion and the Politics of Motherhood. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
MacKinnon, Catherine. 1989. Towards a Feminist Theory of the State. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Mahaney, Carolyn. 2004. Feminine Appeal: Seven Virtues of a Godly Wife and Mother. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.Google Scholar
Manning, Christel. 1999. God Gave Us the Right: Conservative Catholic, Evangelical Protestant, and Orthodox Jewish Women Grapple With Feminism. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.Google Scholar
Mansbridge, Jane. J. 1986. Why We Lost the ERA. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Markham, Jules. 2007. Domestic Discipline. Toronto: Adlibbed Ltd.Google Scholar
Marso, Lori Jo. 2006. Feminist Thinkers and the Demands of Femininity: The Lives and Work of Intellectual Women. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Okin, Susan Moller. 1989. Justice, Gender, and the Family. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Peace, Martha. 2005. The Excellent Wife: A Biblical Perspective. Expanded ed. Bemidji, MN: Focus.Google Scholar
Priolo, Lou. 2007. The Complete Husband: A Practical Guide to Biblical Husbanding. New York: Calvary.Google Scholar
Rawls, John. 2005. Political Liberalism. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Rudman, Laurie A., and Phelan, Julie E.. 2007. “The Interpersonal Power of Feminism: Is Feminism Good for Romantic Relationships?Sex Roles 57 (December): 787–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SAMOIS: A lesbian/feminist S/M organization . 1981. Coming To Power. Boston: Alyson Publications.Google Scholar
Scott, Stuart. 2002. The Exemplary Husband. Bemidji, MN: Focus.Google Scholar
Slattery, Julianna. 2001. Finding the Hero in Your Husband: Surrendering the Way God Intended. Deerfield Beach, FL: Health Communications.Google Scholar
Snyder, R. Claire. 2006. Gay Marriage and Democracy: Equality for All. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.Google Scholar
Snyder, R. Claire. 2008. “Third Wave Feminism: A New Directions Essay,Signs: A Journal of Women in Culture and Society 33 (Autumn): 175–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
TCM (Traditional Christian Marriage) . 2007. “CDD Gateway.” http://www.christiandomesticdiscipline.com/Home.html (June 20, 2007).Google Scholar
Weber, Stu. 2006. Tender Warrior: Every Man's Purpose, Every Woman's Dream, Every Child's Hope. New York: Doubleday Religious Publishing.Google Scholar
Wilson, Douglas. 1995. Reforming Marriage. Moscow, ID: Canon.Google Scholar
Wilson, Douglas.Federal Husband. 1999. Moscow, ID: Canon.Google Scholar
Wilson, P. B. 1990. Liberated through Submission: God's Design for Freedom in All Relationships. Eugene, OR: Harvest House.Google Scholar
Wingrove, Elizabeth Rose. 2000. Rousseau's Republican Romance. Princeton: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar