Unmasking the Male Soul: Power and Gender Trap for Women in Leadership

By Wilmer G. Villacorta

Unmasking the Male Soul is about freedom that confronts the innate and enslaving obsession for power and control in destructive ways. At the core of this liberating process, we must acknowledge that we cannot escape the sociocultural matrix in which every human being emerges. In denying their fallen nature, human beings set aside their dependency on God and become self-centered and self-reliant.
It is from their self-centered hearts that human beings foster dynamics of coercion, domination, competition, and distorted self-realization at the expense of others. This cycle of shame and guilt is well-disguised behind a mask which enables them to enact these dynamics in subtle ways. At times even in the name of religion, men followed the illusion of their internal insecurities and became dependent on masks of power and control.
It is time to break away from the chains of exclusion and devaluation of women in Christian leadership. Masculinities have only perpetrated a narrative of exceptionalism as the apex of humankind, and often they have contrasted to subservient expectations of women in leading others. Each chapter responds to the implicit male silence on the issue in a multidisciplinary way with historical, sociocultural, theological, and scriptural implications. In this book, I will endeavor to challenge the masks of masculinities and dismantle several mental models that foment a gender divide in Christ-like leadership in the twenty-first century.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Release date: Sep 23, 2019
• ISBN: 9781532652363

Wilmer G. Villacorta

Wilmer Villacorta es profesor asociado de estudios interculturales en el Seminario Teológico Fuller. Ha enseñado en esta institución sirviendo en el primer programa de maestría en línea en EUA desde el 2004. El y su familia residen en la ciudad de Colorado Springs.

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Unmasking the Male Soul

Power and Gender Trap for Women in Leadership

Wilmer G. Villacorta

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Unmasking the Male Soul

Power and Gender Trap for Women in Leadership

Copyright © 2019 Wilmer G. Villacorta. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3, Eugene, OR 97401.

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199

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8

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paperback isbn: 978-1-5326-5234-9

hardcover isbn: 978-1-5326-5235-6

ebook isbn: 978-1-5326-5236-3

Manufactured in the U.S.A.

October 22, 2019

Table of Contents

Title Page

Introduction

Chapter 1: Confronting the Distortions of Being Male

Chapter 2: Unveiling the Faces of Manhood

Chapter 3: Discovering a Divine Way of Gender and Power

Chapter 4: Dynamics of Power and Gender in Narrative Form

Chapter 5: Taming the Male Soul through Storytelling

Chapter 6: Unmasking and Transformation of Manhood

Chapter 7: Female Strength, Male Struggle

Chapter 8: Female Presence in Divine Vulnerable Dimension

Chapter 9: Leading Together Side by Side

Conclusion

Bibliography

"Wilmer Villacorta delivers on his promise to unmask the male soul. His analysis of the distressing behavior and rhetoric surrounding the issues of hyper-masculinity are eye-opening. Focusing on human relationships, particularly those of men toward women, he adds new understandings of the nature of abuse and the urgent need for transformation. Villacorta’s outstanding contribution to the conversation invites men and women to think again about relationship to God and one another in humility with integrity."

—Douglas McConnell, Fuller Theological Seminary

"Unmasking the Male Soul is a careful historical, cultural, and scriptural study of masculinity that dissembles the bounds of gender roles and shifts the disposition towards greater strength, through wider imagination. It pushes us to nuance our learned perceptions of performed gender, urging us to challenge institutions that stifle human equality. Wilmer G. Villacorta takes us on a personal and theological journey, probing female strength and the vulnerability of God so women and men can be courageous enough to live harmoniously."

—Grace Ji-Sun Kim, Earlham School of Religion, author of Embracing the Other

"Unmasking the Male Soul is an important book; it is a rare occurrence for a Hispanic man to write about true and equal partnership in the gospel between men and women. The author has pulled together a wide variety of insights from different academic disciplines and spiritual leaders to diagnose a spiritual illness with grave consequences. I hope that young men seeking guidance and support in developing a Christ-centered way of being male discover this book; I also believe that it would be encouraging in important ways for young women as well."

—Alexia Salvatierra, 
 Fuller Theological Seminary

Wilmer G. Villacorta explores the dark side of the male soul and the wounds that have been perpetuated in a dehumanizing patriarchy since the beginning of time. Villacorta points out that men, women, and children suffer under the power-keeping regime, but suggests a surprising path to freedom from the male-centered system—transformation through men and women leading together in mutual respect. This book is a must read for multi-culture teams working in our globalized world.

—Anita Koeshall, 
 Evangel University

This book is dedicated to God’s amazing daughters and leaders who dare to stand together in solidarity for equality and service in the kingdom of God. You all are Ezer-Kenegdo.

To my beautiful covenant partner Jeannie, my daughters, and the remarkable women students at the Master of Arts in Global Leadership, and Fuller Online.

To call woman the weaker sex is a libel; it is man’s injustice to woman. If by strength is meant brute strength, then, indeed, is woman less brute than man. If by strength is meant moral power, then woman is immeasurably man’s superior. Has she not greater intuition, is she not more self-sacrificing, has she not greater powers of endurance, has she not greater courage? Without her, man could not be. If nonviolence is the law of our being, the future is with woman. Who can make a more effective appeal to the heart than woman?

—Mahatma Gandhi, Young India (10-4-1930)

Introduction

The inception of this book came immediately after a worldwide cultural uprising. The global women marches on January 21 , 2017 set a hallmark of a rebirth for a cry of freedom. Now, the cry comes from many female voices uttering a call for justice and equality. Coincidentally, this took place a day after the new president of the United States was sworn into office. This global event (the installation of an American president) may have paved the way for this global movement.

As I reflected on these key scenarios here in the United States and globally, I realized the significance of my doctoral research studies, so I decided to revisit key sections of my dissertation. The topic of study comprised an exploration of manhood (machismo) among Andean Pentecostals in a South American country. The more I read, the more I became convinced of the urgency of the topic of manhood. To summarize my inner conviction, I felt I needed to draft an outline distilling key topics of my research study and adapt it to an audience unfamiliar with socio-anthropological studies. Therefore, this is the result.

How do I make the connection between my doctoral research and what I am trying to convey in this book? It seems there is a reinserting of a hyper-masculinity in the social and political discourse in the United States. Prior to election day in November 2016, there was a barrage of news. Disturbing comments denigrating women invaded the presidential race. A decline of morality and respect toward women and ethnic minorities has resulted in sexual assault, misogyny, and disrespect of others. The situation has escalated to the point that the entertainment industry as well as the political arena have been bulldozed by the allegation of hyper-masculinity resulting in sexual harassment and assault.

While it is not my intention to dwell on the political discourse, I must be honest in challenging the quasi-silent voices of faith communities (particularly the evangelical) on these issues of hyper-masculinity with all its aberrations. My central questions include:

• Where is the response of people of faith (especially male) to these distortions of justice, human decency, and respect?

• Why are there religious leaders who endorsed politicians who have acted against the integrity of women? This is a serious compromise of what many call Christian values due to political and gender-related interests.

• What should be an uncompromising response to these assaults on human decency?

• How could we confront the distorted theological constructs male faith leaders have formulated against women in the home, church, and society?

• In what ways could we create a new conversation that builds up women and silences the antagonistic voices among people and faith communities?

A central theme in this book develops an understanding and practice of power in human relations and its intersection with sociological aspects of gender and theological assumptions, which inform human behavior at home, church, the marketplace, and missional engagement. Humans often take for granted and disregard social relations as exempt of power dynamics, when in reality it is a normative description of interpersonal relationships.

It is in the study of manhood that I understood how theological assumptions related to power inform behavior as the people of God engage in service in communities of faith. There is a tendency to perceive human relationships, ministry engagement, and issues of power in a vacuum—outside cultural values and biases. Humans tend to exert their own will upon others for their own benefit. Nietzsche described the human will as the will to power, which he wrote about and established as a seedbed for many political-religious justifications for abusing of power.

The topic at stake in this book confronts our human condition as it relates to the inherent need for power and control in our existence. If it is not channeled correctly, the need for power and control can be a destructive force that denigrates others. And it is easily endorsed and justified by religious and spiritual arguments. At times, such argumentation is simplistic, and proof-texting interpretations become the norm to establish human standards—perspectives with minimal critical thinking. To be blindsided by these distortions for the sake of political preferences, prosperity, and fear of the stranger becomes a disturbing contradiction to the core message of the gospel, which Jesus never condoned or practiced with exclusivist relationships. Instead, he challenged the hunger for power, privilege, and possessions.

This book emerges because of an ongoing desire to see change in the status quo in how men treat women in the church and mission. These two modalities are central to what God is doing in the world. Being part of a theological institution dedicated to preparing women and men for ministry carries a significant responsibility for fostering a new constructive conversation towards human flourishing in our communities of faith and action. I am committed in my teaching practice to uplift and recognize the presence of women leaders in my classes on campus and on our virtual campus. In acknowledging their presence, I exhort male leaders to pay attention and see women leaders with respect and openness for their own needs as learners in their ministry and academic journey.

My interest in writing this book resulted from crafting content for a course. An online course I designed speaks to the issue of how relational power sets the tone for the inequality in the relationship with female leaders. The spectrum of the female students participating in the course ranged from pastors, church planters, and cross-cultural workers, so diverse perspectives were at play. An increasing number of women registered for the classes, as well as more male students. A common denominator in the responses from the women students elicited how helpful the perspectives in the course were in terms of helping them to deconstruct old mental models that accepted passivity and domination as normative. Striking feedback was that the female students felt empowered to live out who they were at the end of the class, but felt overwhelmed as they reflected on their constituencies and how far these were from changing the status quo of equality for women in ministry. This has been my experience, not only as a result of one course, but from many courses I have facilitated at Fuller Seminary. In general, most of our students agreed to an egalitarian position as they enrolled at our institution, and the entire faculty endorses the same value.

It is in a spirit of solidarity that I commit to raise awareness and expose the dominant voice of oppression toward my sisters in Christ who struggle with inequality, silence, spiritual abuse, and second-class treatment in some expressions of the body of Christ. I acknowledge that this is a sensitive topic on which to agree and one may choose to not continue reading the book’s provocative and challenging directions. But for those willing to take the challenge, let us speak up for our sisters in the faith who are waiting for sensitized brothers who are willing to fight the good fight alongside them.

Not to respond as a voice of freedom for our sisters in Christ is to be complicit with the current narrative of oppression, disrespect, and inequality which contradicts the very essence of the good news of the kingdom of God. In the process of freedom, it is also significant to recognize that men are also captive to the chains of patriarchy as it forces to impose and conform to the values of domination, competition, and control. These forces have bound countless generations of men through time, and in fact, the message of the gospel is proclaimed in the coming of Jesus into the world to bring the hope of freedom for humankind. He alone captured the irrefutable image of freedom by ministering to the poor and rich, the despised and respected, the Jew and foreigner as well as men and women alike. It is in this matrix of human relationship that Jesus crossed the cultural barriers and social expectations of his time.

Unmasking the male soul is about freedom which confronts the innate and enslaving obsession for power and control in destructive ways. At the core of this liberating process, we must acknowledge that we cannot escape the sociocultural matrix in which every human being emerges. Men and women alike succumb to the traps of shame and guilt which entice them to hide from their Creator. In denying their fallen nature, human beings set aside their dependency on God and become self-centered and self-reliant.

It is from their self-centered hearts that human beings foster dynamics of coercion, domination, competition, and distorted self-realization at the expense of others. This cycle of shame and guilt is well-disguised behind a mask which enables them to enact these dynamics in subtle ways. At times, even in the name of religion, men followed the illusion of their internal insecurities and became dependent on masks of power and control.

It is time to break away from the chains of exclusion and devaluation of women in Christian leadership. Masculinities have only perpetrated a narrative of exceptionalism as the apex of humankind, and often they have contrasted to subservient expectations of women in leading others. The reason for power and gender trap in the subtitle is the overarching schema of subordination throughout the ages of restraining women’s potential in society and church. Each chapter responds to the implicit male silence on the issue in a multidisciplinary way with historical, sociocultural, theological, and scriptural implications. In this book, I will endeavor to challenge the masks of masculinities and dismantle several mental models that foment a gender divide in Christ-like leadership in the twenty-first century.

A Few Disclaimers

During my ministry as a missionary and mission trainer in Peru among leaders of churches and parachurch organizations, I noticed unique ways of relating among males and females. Males often seemed defensive, showing slight dominance and looking for opportunities to prove themselves to other males. Females appeared to be subservient to males. Though there were more women than men in the congregations, they did not have significant leadership within the organizational structures. Nevertheless, their sense of commitment and availability was commendable.

I also noticed that machismo was never discussed nor alluded to in any form. A subtle way of being and relating, machismo is often categorized as a mere cultural value¹ without looking at the variables within the context of power relationships. Machismo has become an untouched topic for evangelical Christian leaders. Since it is expected that conversion transforms old practices into new habits, machismo is included in that category, but it is not as simple as one may think.

Thus, machismo has not been sufficiently addressed among Christian leaders, though it is prevalent in society at large. Andean Pentecostal leaders face challenging problems with interpersonal relationships that impact the way they lead others (males or females). Leaders tend to work for a brief period with pastors, and sooner or later leave the congregations, either by causing a split or being rejected. At the same time, they learn to relate to others and exercise leadership as they have experienced with their former leaders. So the cycle continues.

I suspect that the dynamic of machismo is embedded in many societies and significantly integrated across the cultural landscape. In North America, hyper-masculinity has similar traits to those I have researched. The central thrust of the research responded to a serious challenge. Assuming that hyper-masculinity is an equivalent to machismo, the following questions invite readers to reflect on where they stand on the issue:

• What are the interactions between hyper-masculinity and leadership?

• How does hyper-masculinity inform leadership practice among Christian leaders?

• In what ways are male leaders oblivious to such a dynamic so integrated into their relationships and actions?

• What are the distortions in hyper-masculinity that reinforce practices of domination and control in males?

• What hopeful perspective does the gospel provide for the treatment of women?

This book endeavors to enable males in the church to respond to the dynamics of power and its impact on how they lead and relate to others. In doing so, it will also inform them to become change agents and advocates for women leaders. Each chapter heading identifies and contrasts the dynamics of power blended in the relational matrix of male-female interactions with an interdisciplinary approach.

1. Nida, Understanding Latin Americans,

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60

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Confronting the Distortions of Being Male

The greatest of man is great in that he recognizes his misery. The tree knows nothing of its misery.

¹

—Blaise Pascal

In this chapter, I propose challenging the conceptual distortions which proliferate human violence, disrespect of both women and men and the exceptionalism of being male—the unmasking of the male soul—is a necessity. To accomplish this, it is necessary to identify the core problem addressed in this book—a deficient understanding and practice of power as the embedded cause of dysfunctional masculinities which Christian leaders must acknowledge and correct. ²

The underlying concept is that most people play power games; it is inherent to the human condition. In particular, a majority of males exacerbate their attitudes, behaviors, interactions, and values by expressing them outwardly so that others can see them.³ This is done by taking or seeking power, which is characteristic of men in most cultures. This trait seems to describe how humans relate with one another regarding gender inducing power differential