Applying Relational Gender Theory to Christian Summer Camps
Format Type
Plenary
Format Type
Paper
Start Date
13-1-2021 3:00 PM
End Date
13-1-2021 3:20 PM
Abstract
This paper will explore relational gender theory and apply it to a multi-staged qualitative research study I am undertaking on Christian summer camps. I first describe the study, which involves a completed historical content analysis of cultural artifacts such as 1990s Teen Study Bibles and ongoing research on Christian camp websites. In the future, the study will include ethnography of Christian summer camp counselors. Then, I describe Z. Nicolazzo’s (2017) relational gender theory as a framework for the study. Nicolazzo understands gender according to cultural contexts; it is not only performed and embodied, but it is open to interpretations and perceptions. In this sense, "Gender" is not a product of the only social or biological environment, but rather is created through interaction with varied genders within various environments.This paper will apply relational gender theory to the masculine history and social landscape of organized outdoor education and the patriarchal theological perspective of complementarianism. In doing so, it will provide more possibilities and expansions for girlhood and boyhood, for masculinity and femininity, particularly within the Christian camping context.
Nicolazzo, Z. (2017). Trans* In College: Transgender Students’ Strategies for Navigating Campus Life and the Institutional Politics of Inclusion. Stylus Publishing.
Keywords
outdoor education, religion, gender studies, content analysis, relational gender theory, summer camp
Applying Relational Gender Theory to Christian Summer Camps
This paper will explore relational gender theory and apply it to a multi-staged qualitative research study I am undertaking on Christian summer camps. I first describe the study, which involves a completed historical content analysis of cultural artifacts such as 1990s Teen Study Bibles and ongoing research on Christian camp websites. In the future, the study will include ethnography of Christian summer camp counselors. Then, I describe Z. Nicolazzo’s (2017) relational gender theory as a framework for the study. Nicolazzo understands gender according to cultural contexts; it is not only performed and embodied, but it is open to interpretations and perceptions. In this sense, "Gender" is not a product of the only social or biological environment, but rather is created through interaction with varied genders within various environments.This paper will apply relational gender theory to the masculine history and social landscape of organized outdoor education and the patriarchal theological perspective of complementarianism. In doing so, it will provide more possibilities and expansions for girlhood and boyhood, for masculinity and femininity, particularly within the Christian camping context.
Nicolazzo, Z. (2017). Trans* In College: Transgender Students’ Strategies for Navigating Campus Life and the Institutional Politics of Inclusion. Stylus Publishing.