“I saw a line, and on the other side of that line were green fields, lovely flowers, and beautiful white ladies, who stretched out their arms to me over the line, but I couldn’t reach them no-how. I couldn’t seem to get over that line,” says Prof Tanya van Wyk at the Faculty of Theology and Religion

It was the African American actress Viola Davies, upon winning an Emmy-award, that famously quoted these words by the American abolitionist and social activist, Harriet Tubman (1822-1913). Tubman is known for her escape from slavery, and her attempts to help others escape it.

These words by Tubman reflect something about the journey of women in religious communities across the globe. This journey started with the struggle for women to be allowed into sacred spaces, to be authorized to speak and perform the rituals of their specific religious tradition, and ultimately, be recognized as religious leaders, such as priests, pastors, and ministers of religion. In this regard, there has been progress. Some distances have been crossed, and the proverbial finish- ‘line’ is visible. However, significant gender gaps remain with regard to some aspects of religious spaces, practices and leadership roles. The extent of these gaps is not the same in all religious communities – and so, the line almost gets shifted further away.

In 2023, as we approach another women’s month, it is worth reflecting on a number of aspects when it comes to that proverbial “line”. Firstly, it is a question whether religious communities were able to utilize, or rather isolated themselves from, the momentum of so-called critical-mass moments, such as the #MeToo-movement and other related hashtag-movements. A recent publication titled “The other #metoos” (the e-book is available in our wonderful UP-library!), indicates the extent and power of women and men working together across the world, protesting gender-based violence, segregated spaces and gender binary exclusions. I am sometimes worried that different generations of women in religious communities are not able to build on marginal gains made by their forebears. The result is that women have to keep on finding ways to “authorize” themselves in religious communities – and this very sad, and ironic. For example, it was women mystics in the early Christian movement, up to the Middle Ages, who were regarded as sages and spiritual leaders of their times. What happened that as a humanity we lost that precious tradition?

Secondly, debates about women in religious spaces tend to be overshadowed by struggles for ordination, or becoming priests or pastors – at least in forms of institutionalized religion. However, once women have “won” this battle, there are not always opportunities for them to become leaders in church councils or interdenominational, or interreligious leadership structures. They are relegated to spaces that are divided and determined by socialized, gender constructs. This means that the moment a woman proverbially conducts herself in a manner that is incongruent with her so-called gender role, she is punished or marginalized for it. This is not only linked to religious spaces. In this regard, a new publication on “Women, Religion and Leadership” (also available in our wonderful library!) indicates strategies for adopting different approaches to leadership. A suggestion is to move from “feminine leadership” to “feminist leadership”.

On this women’s day, women in religious spaces should come together to help and remind each other of their potential and the diversity of their contributions. One of the major barriers for women in leadership – also in religious communities – is the way women tend not to trust their own potential, and suffer from internalized oppression. This happens when women start to believe negative messages about their abilities. Religious communities – because of their inherent ability also to provide hope and foster relationships – can do a lot to liberate women, and to help them cross that line!

The vast majority of the citizens of our beautiful country identify as religious – which implies a great many of us in Higher Education identify as religious. Creating spaces for these conversations, and providing opportunities for women’s agency and self-actualization can contribute to crossing gender divides. 

Because we can, we must!