Being a Woman in America Fact Sheet

Marginalization and Subordination of Women

·         The vast majority of Christian churches in America claim a patriarchal or complementarian attitude regarding women, simultaneously insisting that women are “equal” in value to men, but that God has given them separate “roles.” Due to this “separate but equal” paradigm, women are consistently denied equal leadership roles, equal pay, equal educational opportunities, equal access to promotions, equal voice, and equal respect in regards to decision making within the church, home, and workplace. When women express dissatisfaction with this system, they are often silenced, rejected, further limited, and even accused of sinfulness (especially of having a “rebellious, Jezebel spirit.”) This kind of gas-lighting is spiritual abuse. Hereby, the Gospel meant to free is used as a further means of bondage.

•  Women are paid less than men and, therefore, receive less social security once their jobs end.

“In 2016, women working full time in the United States typically were paid just 80 percent of what men were paid, a gap of 20 percent.” (https://www.aauw.org/research/the-simple-truth-about-the-gender-pay-gap/)

•   Women are more likely to live in poverty than men.

“In 2016, 13 percent of American women ages 18–64 were living below the federal poverty level, compared with 10 percent of men. For ages 65 and older 11 percent of women and 8 percent of men were living in poverty” (https://www.aauw.org/research/the-simple-truth-about-the-gender-pay-gap/)

•  Women are more likely to be left to raise children alone. (https://singlemotherguide.com/single-mother-statistics/)

“42 percent of mothers with children under the age of 18 are their families’ primary or sole breadwinners.” (https://www.aauw.org/research/the-simple-truth-about-the-gender-pay-gap/)

• Women are more likely than men to be judged regarding their looks and what they wear.

(https://www.recruiter.com/i/in-2018-professional-women-are-still-judged-by-their-appearances/ & https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=119952&page=1

Psychological Ramifications

• Women are more twice as likely as men to experience depression. (https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/women-twice-likely-men-have-depression-survey-finds-n847556)

Objectification of Women

• Most pornography features women as sexual objects, not people.

"Men spend $10 billion on pornography a year. 11,000 new pornographic films are made every year. And in those films, women are not people. In pornography, women are three holes and two hands" (Jensen, Robert. "A Cruel Edge: The Painful Truth About Today's Pornography--and What Men Can Do About It." Retrieved April 24, 2014 from: http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~rjensen/freelance/pornography&cruelty.htm)

"57% of pastors, 64A% of youth pastors in U.S. struggle with porn addiction." (https://www.christiantoday.com/article/57-percent-of-pastors-and-64-of-youth-pastors-in-u-s-struggle-with-porn-addiction-survey-shows/78178.htm)

• Popular media regularly portray women as sexual objects, which influences cultural attitudes toward women.

“Implicit messages such as those found in the Twilight series appear elsewhere, too. A newspaper story might describe a crime in a titillating manner or encourage readers to blame the victim. A novel might suggest it is noble for a woman to allow an abusive partner back in her life. A popular song might devalue or objectify women, or a movie might portray domestic violence as a ‘lover’s quarrel’ leading into a romantic interlude,” (Clark, Cat. “Intimate Partner Violence.” The American Feminist, Fall/Winter 2011, pp. 12-17.)

“Young women who have read EL James’s erotic novel Fifty Shades of Grey are more likely to display sexist attitudes, according to new research.” https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/may/10/fifty-shades-of-grey-readers-show-higher-levels-of-sexism-study-finds

Crime

•          Women are more likely to be sexually abused as children.

“Child sexual abuse is not rare. Retrospective research indicates that as many as 1 out of 4 girls and 1 out of 6 boys will experience some form of sexual abuse before the age of 18. However, because child sexual abuse is by its very nature secretive, many of these cases are never reported” (“Child Sexual Abuse Fact Sheet, 2009.” The National Child Traumatic Stress Network. Retrieved April 24, 2014 http://nctsn.org/nctsn_assets/pdfs/caring/ChildSexualAbuseFactSheet.pdf)

•          The cultural identity of womanhood and the female lived experience is indivisibly connected with being raped.

“Cultural representation of glamorized degradation has created a situation among the young in which boys rape and girls get raped as a normal course of events” (Wolf, Naomi. The Beauty Myth. William Morrow & Co.: New York, 1991. 167.)

Approximately 90% of rape victims are women (“Get The Facts.” Rape Crisis Center. Retrieved April 24, 2014 from: http://www.rccmsc.org/resources/get-the-facts.aspx.)

Women who have been raped experience a great deal of rape-related fear; however, even women who have never experienced sexual assault nevertheless report high levels rape-related fear.

(https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01591487.1989.11005984?journalCode=rjfs18)

•          Females are far more likely to be victims of intimate partner violence.

“In 2007, intimate partner violence resulted in 2,340 deaths; 70% of the victims were women” (Clark, Cat. “Intimate Partner Violence.” The American Feminist, Fall/Winter 2011, pp. 12-17.)

“Females (76%) experienced more domestic violence than males (24%).” (Morgan, Rachel E. and Truman, Jennifer L. “Nonfatal Domestic Violence, 2003-2012.” Bureau of Justice Statistics. Retrieved April 24, 2014 from:http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=4984)

•   Women are regularly held accountable for the actions of their attackers/abusers.

Women are more likely than men to think victims should take responsibility for their assault, and women ages 18-24 are, of all female groups, most likely to believe the victim is responsible. (The Havens. Wake Up To Rape Research: Summary Report. 2010: 5.)

•          Though women commit fewer crimes than men, they are more likely to be victims of violent crime than men, especially domestic violence and sexual assault.

“In 2012, 73.8 percent of all arrestees were males. Males accounted for 80.1 percent of persons arrested for violent crimes and for 62.6 percent of persons arrested for property crimes. Males comprised 88.7 percent of persons arrested for murder and nonnegligent manslaughter in 2012. Of the total number of persons arrested for drug abuse violations, 79.7 percent were males.” According to this same study, the only crime where women accounted for a greater number of offenses was “prostitution and commercialized vice,” the majority of which could, arguably, simply be cases of victim blame—cases of women and girls who have been or are being sex-trafficked. Additionally, 99.1% of rapes and 92.2% of sex offenses are committed by males. 2012 FBI Criminal Justice Report. https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2012/crime-in-the-u.s.-2012/tables/42tabledatadecoverviewpdf/table_42_arrests_by_sex_2012.xls

Males are more likely to be murdered (usually by other males); however, females are far more likely to be victims of sexual assault and domestic violence, usually by a man she knows. https://www.crimeinamerica.net/2016/10/27/females-have-higher-rates-of-violent-crime-than-males/

“The overwhelming majority of women in prison are survivors of domestic violence. Three-quarters have histories of severe physical abuse by an intimate partner during adulthood, and 82% suffered serious physical or sexual abuse as children.” Correctional Association of New York at http://www.correctionalassociation.org/issue/domestic-violence & https://www.crimeinamerica.net/2016/10/12/national-statistics-on-women-offenders/

•        Women are unlikely to report being sexually assaulted or raped, usually due to fear of reprisal and/or rejection, the belief no one will help, or an unwillingness to get the perpetrator in trouble. (https://ocrsm.umd.edu/files/Why-Is-Sexual-Assault-Under-Reported.pdf) & (https://www.rainn.org/statistics/criminal-justice-system )

“It is believed that only 15.8 to 35 percent of all sexual assaults are reported to the police.” (U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, M. Planty and L. Langton, “Female Victims of Sexual Violence, 1994-2010,” 2013; Wolitzky-Taylor et al, “Is Reporting of Rape on the Rise? A Comparison of Women with Reported Versus Unreported Rape Experiences in the National Women’s StudyReplication,” 2010)

“Due partially to low reporting rates, only 9 percent of all rapists get prosecuted. Only 5 percent of cases lead to a felony conviction. Only 3 percent of rapists will spend a day in prison. The other 97 percent walk free.” (Probability Statistics Calculated By the Rape Abuse and Incest National Network, “Reporting Rates,” 2013)

•       Women are more likely to be counseled (especially within the church) to remain in an emotionally or physically abusive marriage.

(http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2018/04/30/leaked-audio-shows-southern-baptist-leader-telling-abused-wives-to-stay-and-pray/ & http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-18/domestic-violence-church-submit-to-husbands/8652028)

Victimization of Pregnant Women

·         Homicide is the leading killer of pregnant women.

•  Pregnant women have been fired, denied employment, kicked out of school, denied housing, and restricted from other basic sources of economic support for refusing to submit to an abortion.
• Pregnant women & girls in America have been raped, stabbed, shot, bombed, poisoned, beaten with bats, and strangled—most often by the father of their unborn child.
•  64% of women surveyed reported feeling pressured to abort.
• 79% of women surveyed were not told or deceived about available resources.
• Post-abortive women are 6 times more likely to commit suicide.
•  67% of women surveyed were not counseled prior to their abortion.
•  84% of women surveyed weren’t sufficiently informed before their abortion.
•  65% of women suffer trauma symptoms after abortion.
•   Many post-abortive women report being misinformed by experts regarding fetal development, abortion alternatives, and risks.
•  Many post-abortive women report having been denied essential personal, family, societal, or economic support.
•  Post-abortive women are nearly 4 times more likely to die from any and all causes.(Forced Abortion in America, Special Report, Elliot Institute.)

·         Lack of Church Support for Abortion-Vulnerable Women

•  36% of post-abortive women surveyed were attending church regularly at the time of their first abortion.
•  70% of abortions are obtained by women who profess to be Christian or Catholic.
•  76% of post-abortive women surveyed said the local church had no influence on her decision.
• 59% of women surveyed received or expected the church to react to her in a judgmental or condemning way.
•  49% of women agree that a pastor’s teachings on forgiveness don’t seem to apply to abortion.
•  65% of post-abortive women believe church members judge single women who are pregnant.
• 51% of women agree that churches aren’t prepared to discuss unplanned pregnancy options.

(Care Net National Office 2015 Survey)

Women Are Stronger Than We Think

•    On average, women live longer than men. (https://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic-social/products/worldswomen/documents/Health_BW.pdf)

·         Women are more likely to survive a crisis. (http://bigthink.com/philip-perry/women-are-more-likely-to-survive-a-crisis-than-men)

•   Women are more likely to be religiously/spiritually-minded than men. (https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-secular-life/201409/why-are-women-more-religious-men)
•  Women are more likely to donate to charity than men. (https://www.bizjournals.com/bizwomen/news/latest-news/2017/08/women-more-likely-to-donate-than-men.html)
•  Women are less likely than men to commit suicide. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010440X98900578)

Things Men Need to Understand About Women

•          Women experience far more fear than men, especially in regard to sexual violence. The threats are not imagined. Their fear is NOT irrational, nor is it due to being “overly emotional.”
•         A man will never have a healthy relationship with a woman he sees as beneath him.
•          Even “benevolent sexism” (e.g. “Women should lovingly led and protected by men.”) is still sexism. All sexism is bad.
•          A man will never be able to love a woman he does not respect.
•          Respect is recognizing and honoring another person’s unique, inherent value (even when they do not).
•          Love is choosing the highest good for the other person.
•         Intimacy is truly seeing and knowing another person for who they are. Think “Into-Me-See.”
•       A woman must have respect before she has love. (Love cannot exist without respect.)
•         In respect to a woman’s God-given identity of an “ezer” (Genesis 2:18), which means “mighty rescuer,” women will naturally fight to help and protect others. However, women in our society have been so ingrained with the idea that they are “less” and, therefore, deserving of less, many women are afraid to stand up for themselves—further compounding the injuries women suffer. Women are naturally others-focused, but this gift to humanity is systematically used against them.

 Compiled and Created by Susan Thomas, M.A.