Chapters 11-19 of Kathryn Joyce's Quiverfull, otherwise referred to as Part Two: Mothers, is perhaps even more disturbing than Part One: Wives. While "Wives" focuses more on an overview of the movement's ideology, "Mothers" is decidedly more character driven. Here, readers are introduced (or, in my case, re-introduced) to a crazy cast of Quiverfullin' characters, as well as "celebrities" within the movement. For instance, some of our "friends" from the documentary The Monstrous Regiment of Women, including Emily Gunn, Jennie Chancey, Stacy McDonald, Carmon Freidrich, and Mary Pride make an appearance or two in the pages of these nine chapters whose ominous-sounding titles alone are enough to re-incite the women's lib movement and possibly even propel a few of us to take to the streets on behalf of the cause. In addition, Joyce rightfully and articulately rips on the grande dames of anti-feminism, Phyllis Schlafly and F. Carolyn Graglia. This section tackles the two sacred cows of the American fundamentalist movement-- superfluous procreation and anti-abortion activism. Most importantly, Joyce delves into the politics of Quiverfull ideology.
As for the scary titles, the little list of "gems" is as follows:
Ch. 11-- "Be Fruitful and Multiply"
Ch. 12-- "The Bible and Birth Control"
Ch. 13-- "Trust and Obey"
Ch. 14-- "Blessed Arrows"
Ch. 15-- "The Natural Family"
Ch. 16-- "Return to Patriarchy"
Ch. 17-- "Godly Seeds"
Ch. 18-- "Demographic Winter"
Ch. 19-- "Exiting the Movement"
(Ominous, huh?)
Anyway, Chapter 11's title is pretty self-explanatory. Joyce discusses how movement matriarchs such as Nancy Campbell, a mother of six and grandmother of several more, encourage their younger counterparts to, well, be fruitful and multiply. In Chapter 12, Joyce interviews the late Charles Provan, a western Pennsylvania printer, Holocaust denier, anti-contraception and anti-abortion activist, and father of 10 before his death in 2007. Folks, this guy had some really whacked-out views that you just have to read about to believe. Chapter 13 is equally creepy, for it contains the word "obey"-- the ultimate four-letter word as far as I'm concerned, especially when directed toward women. Unlucky 13 outlines the tenets of Biblical womanhood and marriage, which Quiverfullers view in completely legalistic terms. In fact, female adherents tell worldly women that they are selfish and silly for believing in the notion of romance. Joyce also uses this chapter to discuss the sad tale of America's most infamous Quiverfuller, Andrea Yates, the Texas mother of five who drowned her babies in the bathtub after succumbing to mental illness and the patriarchial, fire-and-brimstone teachings of street preacher Michael Woroniecki. (Side note: I'm now on a mission to dispel all prevailing cultural myths about women from Texas. LOL!) Things really take a dark turn, however, in Chapter 14 in which Joyce discusses the concept of spiritual warfare, literal and metaphorical. Metaphorically speaking, these folks base their unmitigated breeding practices on a particular passage from the Book of Psalms. In the literal sense, they believe that a real army of Christian warriors can defeat intruders and infidels in actual battle. Not surprisingly, they wholly support U.S. involvement in the various Middle Eastern wars. (I'm going to stop myself here, because this makes me really mad-- and I'm actually having a pretty good day so far today.) Of course, the perceived "infidels" are Muslims. Chapter 15 continues on the themes discussed in the previous chapter. By far, the most disturbing aspect of the natural family movement is that it's also a natalist, or white supremacist, movement. In other words, a large number of followers want to create a master race of pure, white Christians. (Again, I just can't go there today.) I will say this, though: I'm personally opposed to abortion, but it appears to me that a number of pro-life, anti-abortion Quiverfullers have inherently racist, xenophobic leanings. Chapters 16 and 17 offer more of the same, further outlining the movement's rhetoric. Chapter 16 focuses mainly on homeschooling (which I oppose for a number of reasons) and homechurching. Homechurching?! Okay, what that is is a movement in which the strictest pro-patriarchy Christians hold church services in their homes because they are so disillusioned with the "liberal" teachings of existing churches in their areas. Quite honestly, I think this is simply a way to further isolate the women from the "secular" world. As for the next chapter, it contains a hodgepodge of political mumbo-jumbo, mainly an overview of the belief that women should not be allowed to hold public office or even vote. (Yeah, I'm not touching that one right now!) Things get really interesting in Chapter 18, a discussion of the belief that white, predominantly Christian populations are dying out and that non-white, non-Christian ones are rising up. And, yes, this aspect is really popular with ultra-conservative ideologues right now. When Quiverfullers evangelize to the "lost masses" vis-a-vis the blogosphere (sigh...), they milk this belief for all it's worth. Another thing that really gets my Texas up is the fact that the movement's most vocal proselytizers look to their conservative allies in Israel. I say this 'gets my Texas up,' since it is U.S. support of Israel that is perpetuating all this terrorism. (Disclaimer: I am by no means an anti-Semite. I sincerely believe that most Jews, as well as persons of all faiths, want world peace. Just trying to fan the flames of potential controversy there, people!) Finally, Chapter 19 broaches the most horrifying subject matter of all: what happens if a woman tries to leave the movement. One such brave soul, former homeschoolin' warrior and now strident feminist blogger Cheryl Lindsey Seelhoff, was left destitute when she divorced her abusive husband and it was disclosed that she had an affair with the man she is now happily married to. (Abuse of women and children is an oft-examined topic throughout this book.) Seelhoff and her 11 children were ostracized and left with virtually nothing. Today, Ms. Seelhoff is a highly successful messenger of the feminist blog movement. (Blog on, honey!) Of course, Seelhoff's story has a relatively happy ending. Many others who've tried to flee the clutches of "biblical" patriarchy have not been so lucky. To conclude, "Mothers" is a simultaneously frightening and fascinating foray into this movement with little practical appeal but a curiously large number of followers. Joyce succeeds in being both blunt and compassionate in this section. As is the case with her entire book, Joyce's indefatigable quest for knowledge and non-judgmental desire to learn about an American sub-culture with beliefs far, far removed from her own is the real triumph of Part Two of Quiverfull.
Alright, all that having been said, I will discuss Part Three: Daughters in tomorrow's post. Trust me, y'all, the freakiest stuff is still yet to come!
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