Ep. 19: How Complementarianism Feeds Sex Trafficking with Meghan Tschanz
Show Notes
Episode Summary
Meghan Tschanz was a good Christian girl her whole life: She went to church, she stayed “pure,” she submitted to male authority, and she dedicated many years of her life to serving God by becoming a missionary. But now, her commitment to God compels her to dismantle so much of what she once promoted. She talks with us about how her experiences halfway across the world helped her see that her American complementarian theology was directly complicit in the systematic subjugation and oppression of women, as well as why the sex trafficking problem will never be eliminated if we never fix our theology.
CW: Sex trafficking, rape, oppression, female genital mutilation, patriarchy, sexual abuse, sexual assault
Bio
Meghan Tschanz is a writer, speaker, and former missionary who is passionate about empowering women and reclaiming feminism for the Christian faith. To that end, she recently authored Women Rising: Learning to Listen, Reclaiming Our Voice. She’s a prolific blogger, the host of the Faith and Feminism podcast, and an avid traveler (when there’s not a global pandemic, that is). She and her husband Dustin live in Northeast Georgia.
Follow Meghan on Instagram and Twitter (@meghantschanz).
Quotables
“So often in the Church, we want to put the problem outside: ‘This isn’t us, this is over there, let me help them.’” (tweet this)
“The patriarchy we teach in the Church is making us sick.” (tweet this)
“I really felt like God was saying, ‘Go get your people, and tell them that the gender theology they have is causing oppression and harm and death and rape and abuse of women.’” (tweet this)
“I would never say ‘This is your fault’ to hearing someone’s story of sexual assault, so why am I telling myself that?” (tweet this)
“I realized that me being silent and not standing up to this gender-role theology was me being complicit in the oppression of other women.” (tweet this)
“In the conservative, white evangelical Church, we are trained to see everything as individual sin. We are not trained to see in systems.” (tweet this)
“I am part of a system of patriarchy, and by complying with the rules of patriarchy, not only is it harming me, it is harming women around the globe. And I will not give any more power to a system that is hurting people.” (tweet this)
Timestamps and References
[02:15]—Meghan’s experience with complementarian theology growing up and how she came to write Women Rising
[07:00]—Wipe Every Tear
[07:32]—What caused Meghan to see that simply working to rescue women won’t end the sex trade and sex trafficking
[14:15]—How Meghan’s experience with two American men in a bar in the Philippines helped her see the connection between American complementarian theology and the sex trade
[18:35]—“Sexual Assault Is About Power” by Lyn Yonack
[22:20]—The response Meghan got in response to an article she wrote about gender roles
[23:15]—What the March shooting in Atlanta has to do with purity culture and complementarianism
[26:06]—How Meghan finally got to the point of enough and would no longer give in to the indoctrination
[30:28]—Meghan’s reasoning for continuing in her work, despite really vitriolic pushback
[40:55]—Pushback against how people use the Bible to support patriarchy, as well as how to talk to people who believe complementarianism is “biblical.”
[44:24]—One example of how parts of Paul’s writings are conveniently ignored in order to defend patriarchy
[45:34]—The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth by Beth Allison Barr
[49:40]—What gives Meghan hope for the future of faith
[53:20]—Fun Rapid Fire questions
[54:53]—Know My Name: A Memoir by Chanel Miller
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Credits
This episode was produced by The Sophia Society. Music is by Faith in Foxholes, and sound engineering is by Joshua Mudge.
