Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons^™

The Divine Double Voice: How Female Christian Rhetors Found Rhetorical Agency Through The Voice Of God, Cara Ryfun

Master of Arts in Professional Writing Capstones

This piece discusses the ways in which three specific Christian female rhetors--Teresa de Avila, Frances Willard, and Maria W. Stewart--utilized the voice of God through biblical scriptures and divine revelations in order to empower themselves. Through the voice of God, these women found agency for their own beliefs and messages, and utilized a variety of rhetorical maneuvers in order to share their messages and quietly subvert patriarchal constructs within the church. These women found agency for their feminist messages within their Christian patriarchal constructs, and they set precedents for Christian feminist rhetors to follow.