“Lord, I Am a Father!” The Transnational Evangelical Men's Movement and the Advent of “Benevolent’ Patriarchy

Abstract

Begun as a small faith-based organization in South Korea in the late twentieth century, the Father School has evolved into a transnational evangelical men's movement, aiming to bring positive changes not only in the family but also in the church and larger society. Through a critical examination of the Father School's remaking of manhood and womanhood by analyzing what I call the “scripts of the wounded father’ and “scripts of the wise mother and good wife,” this article argues that despite its seemingly commendable goals such as the reduction of family violence and an increase in communication among family members, the Father School does not alter hierarchical gender relations and the hetero-patriarchal structure of the family and church. Instead, the remaking of manhood through the reformation of hegemonic masculinity “softens’ such a structure by calling for “benevolent’ patriarchy. Simultaneously, the Father School encourages women's re-domestication by legitimizing the roles of wife and mother as women's most valuable functions.