|
Affirmative Action
by
Major JoAnn Shade
In Salvation Army circles these days, the
development of women leaders is a hot topic. As one who has
long advocated for opportunities for women, both married and
single, at first glance I’m encouraged by the attention being
given to the subject. Even as I write today, there is a
conference going on in London with the goal of preparing women
for senior leadership. At first I thought, “Good, it’s about
time,” but that reaction was quickly matched by a second – how
patronizing to women. Are you telling me that somehow men can
figure it out on their own, but women need special conferences
in order to ”catch up”? It’s the old affirmative action
argument in a skirt.
Writing for The Officer in Spousal Syndrome
– Delight or Dilemma, Lt. Colonel Lynda Watt suggests that
“when it is time to find the right person to fill a particular
leadership position, the officer-wife options often become
limited, with few having the necessary exposure or
experience.” Reaction #1: Hogwash! With the exception of
the “women officer hostess class,” I had exactly the same
training as my husband. By the end of my (our) first corps
appointment, I had been involved with business, personnel and
program. I had stumbled through a capital campaign and
building project, no more or less knowledgeable than my
husband.
The Salvation Army women officers I know work
as hard as their husbands, are as educated as their husbands,
and most share both the pulpit and the parenting. So is it
really about exposure or experience? Or is something else at
work here?
Reaction #2. Considering that it may be true
for some, then why? Might it have anything to do with the
fact that in training we were taught to fold napkins and put
the jam and jelly in little bowls instead of leaving it in the
jars? Might it have anything to do with expectations that the
division of labor within the couple will fall along gendered
lines? The Salvation Army has sent its cultural messages to
its (married) women officers for years, and continues to do so
every time the social security statement comes (in the United
States) and every time a disposition of forces is printed (at
least where I live).
Is it that women can’t do the work, or that
they’re not appointed to the work? At least in my territory,
it starts long before senior leadership. Across the board,
the husband is the Adult Rehabilitation Center administrator
while the wife is the director of program and residential
services. The husband is the Kroc Center administrator and
wife is the (his?) associate. The husband is the divisional
youth secretary and the wife is . . . well, you get my drift.
I recognize that it is a complicated
discussion, but I find it hard to believe that out of twenty
couples, not one might have gifts that would reverse that
designation. But, at least where I sit, it doesn’t happen.
Why? Culture. History. Tradition. Theological views that
fall closer to the complementarian camp than the egalitarian
one. Patriarchy.
So what can be done? First, tell the truth.
As Watt suggests, “In the structure of The Salvation Army it
may be that to give married women equal opportunity to use
their skills and abilities would mean far-reaching and
difficult complexities that the organization might be unable
to overcome.” Perhaps we’ve become conservative enough both
in theology and praxis that we must turn our back on
Catherine’s teaching and join the Baptists. If that’s so,
admit it and get on with the work of the Kingdom. If
(hopefully) that description is not accurate, then let’s find
some ways to figure this out.
Second, explore further the concept of single
spouse officership around the world. When released from the
constraints of marital concerns enmeshed in officership,
perhaps women who happen to be married could function in the
same way that single women have functioned for years – and
that women do in countless other denominations. Is anyone
looking at the dynamics of this in the territories where it’s
in place, or are we more worried about how to move someone if
their spouse has an “outside” job?
Third, talk about the marriage dynamics. Make
that a part of a shared consultation. How does the marriage
function? What would harm it? What would strengthen it? I’m
not sure that we’re talking about the wife being the
commanding officer and the husband being the associate –
simply that it can be possible to find positions of equivalent
responsibility and fulfillment.
Fourth, consider models of truly shared
leadership. Can it work? Can two people lead together
without a culturally imposed division of labor? My son and
his wife just had a baby, and it plays out every day for
them. I’m seeing shared leadership a lot from my younger
officer friends. It’s happened for years in the corps – why
couldn’t divisional leadership be fully shared – in function
and in title?
But here’s the rub. Don’t promise what you
can’t deliver. Don’t dangle the carrot of equal opportunity
for leadership in front of women if it is unlikely to happen.
As many people are discovering in these tough economic times,
advanced job training doesn’t do any good if there aren’t any
jobs available. I’m thinking that women on the ground have
done as much as they can – now either the doors of opportunity
have to swing a bit wider.
|
