Beyond the Pentecostal Gender Paradox

In this introduction to the special issue on Pentecostalism and Gender, the editors present new scholarly inquiries in the field, emerging from the 14th GloPent conference in Heidelberg (February 2024). Drawing on the keynote presentations by Keri Day, Brendan Thornton, and Naomi Richman, along with responses by Eva Spies, Claudia Jahnel, and Giovanni Maltese, the authors identify three key areas for advancing beyond Bernice Martin’s influential concept of the “Pentecostal gender paradox”. First, they argue for moving past binary frameworks of oppression versus emancipation by employing the concept of agency to better understand the complex motivations and strategies of Pentecostal actors. Second, they advocate for decentring dominant historiographical narratives, particularly those anchored on the Azusa Street revival, in order to acknowledge Pentecostalism’s diverse global–local entanglements. Third, they critique the “add and stir” approach to studying gender and Pentecostalism as separate entities, instead highlighting how gender is intrinsic to Pentecostal theology, practice, and identity formation. The authors emphasize that gender dynamics within Pentecostalism must be understood within broader global religious histories and transnational gender regimes, rather than solely as negotiations between global Pentecostal logics and local cultural structures. The contributions to this special issue demonstrate how categories like “Pentecostal” themselves carry gendered connotations within colonial and postcolonial contexts, suggesting new avenues for research that examine global entanglements while maintaining attention on local specificities.