Fixing "the man problem": masculine discourse in Christian men's ministries

"The Man Problem" according to Christian evangelist Patrick Morley, is the result of men's lack of knowledge towards their rightful gender role within their family and community and is "the root cause behind virtually every problem that ails us." This study addresses the discourse of masculine ideology within evangelical Christian men's ministries, particularly those who have participated in Morley's Man in the Mirror organization. The research analyzes two types of data. The first part is a content analysis of Patrick Morley's best selling men's ministry books and online content from Man in the Mirror. The second data set is from a national online survey of Man in the Mirror pastors and men's ministry leaders. This critique focuses around four main themes: gendering men, pastoring techniques, social context, and race and class implications. The central findings of this analysis reveals that Christian men's ministries in the United States are discursively constructed and maintained through the reproduction of a specific masculine ideology that operates as an agent in the perseverance of a larger societal discourse, one that further perpetuates gender, race, ethnicity, class hierarchies, and inequalities.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.A.

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Sociology (UMKC)

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Missouri--Kansas City

Year dc:date.issued

2012

Author dc:creator

• Lopez, Andres Lazaro

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Torres, Theresa L.

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10355/14675

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:mospace.umsystem.edu:10355/14675