The Construction of Gender in the Promise Keepers' Movement: Ambiguity and the Process of Expanding Market Share

Abstract

<p>This thesis examines the discussion of gender in the Promise Keepers' movement. The research presented in the following pages is based upon 20 informal interviews with Promise-Keeping men from southwestern Ontario and participant observation at 2 stadium events. The evangelical men's movement maintains an ambiguous discussion of gender, simultaneously promoting both egalitarian and patriarchal concepts. Promise-Keeping men tend to discuss gender roles using one of three concepts: mutual submission, servant leadership, and re-claiming male authority. In discussing gender issues, many Promise Keepers display sensitivity to the feminist agenda. As a result, the research presented in this thesis undermines those who describe Promise Keepers as entirely patriarchal or anti-feminist. A market analogy is used to account for the ambiguity of the movement's discussion of gender. By maintaining an ambiguous discourse on gender, Promise Keepers attracts men who hold differing, if not contradictory, notions of the roles of men and women.</p>