Due to the demands of grad school, the podcast, and mothering a 1 year old, I am pausing patreon until I can better serve the community. Thank you so much for your support!
Hi, my name is Meghan Tschanz and I am an author, podcaster, and creative passionate about dismantling oppressive systems within Christianity, specifically patriarchy.
My Work
- Faith and Feminism podcast
- Ranked in the top 1% of podcasts globally with over 650k downloads
- Interview and further the mission of theologians, leaders, historians, and clergy passionate about justice within Christianity
- “Women Rising: Learning to Listen, Reclaiming Our Voice.”
- Debuted #1 new release in religious leadership, feminist theory, and sociology of abuse
- Detailed my time working with sexually exploited women and the root of female oppression
- Challenged Christians on their need to fight gender inequity
- Advocacy and Mobilizing Coordinator for the #Faith4ERA campaign with Justice Revival
- Engage faith leaders, denominations, and faith-based organizations in support of the Equal Rights Amendment
- Produce educational resources on the ERA for Members of Congress and faith communities.
- Writer
- Staff writer for Ezer Rising: create content for and engage with their 14k followers advocating for gender equity in the Church
- Guest writer for publications ranging from The Christian Post to Christian Feminism Today
- Speaker
- I give talks about how Biblical Gender Roles contribute to Abuse, Gender Equity, the Equal Rights Amendment and Sex Trafficking at Churches, Seminars, and Conferences
The story of how I got started
Around five years ago, I was working as a missionary with sexually exploited women, while in a bar I was talking to an American man about why he chose to buy vulnerable and exploited women– his answer changed everything for me.
“I come to the Philippines because women here (being sexually exploited) are raised right. They know how to submit to men and give me the respect I deserve as a man,” he espoused. “Women in the west don’t know their place and are too uppity, women here know their place.”
Something sounded familiar as he said it, but at first, I couldn’t quite place my finger on it. That’s until it hit me– he sounded just like so many of the pastors and male figures I had been surrounded with growing up in the Church. At the time, I was weeks away from marriage, and people were suggesting I read the book “Love and Respect” by Emmerson Eggerichs.
There’s a line in it “This is not about the husband deserving respect; it’s about the wife being willing to treat her husband respectfully without conditions” that sounded so very similar to this man speaking to me.
It was then that I realized that men who traveled halfway around the world to buy sexually exploited women, held the same beliefs that I had been taught as “Biblical Gender Roles” growing up in White Evangelicalism. This realization changed everything for me, and I soon after quit my job.
Sexual Abuse and Exploitation is Caused by Power Differentials
I began to do research and found that sexual abuse and sexual exploitation are not caused by “lustful feelings” as I had been raised to believe, but instead by enormous power differentials.
Psychoanalyst Lyn Yonack says it like this, “Despite its name, sexual abuse is more about power than it is about sex. Although the touch may be sexual, the words seductive or intimidating, and the violation physical, when someone rapes, assaults, or harasses, the motivation stems from the perpetrator’s need for dominance and control.”
If power differentials were what ultimately causes sexual abuse, then a religious system that propped enormous power differentials was contributing to the abuse of women… and I had been complicit– not just in patriarchy, but in white supremacy, white saviorism, and homophobia.
Why Patreon?
For years I have been fortunate to have my husband pay for the majority of our bills while I worked tirelessly with my podcast and publishing a book. After having been asked several times when I am starting a Patreon, I decided it was time to get paid for the work I do, as speaking fees and book royalties are not substantial currently– and ultimately I believe the work I do is important.
What’s more, is I plan on eventually pursuing a doctorate in studying the effects of dominant religion on women. In order to get into many doctorate programs, I am looking at, many require a masters in theology first: a degree that can cost somewhere between 35-40k.
This is where you come in–I cannot afford grad school without some help. My goal is to ultimately make it that the dominant religion, namely Christianity in the US, is not complicit or upholding systems that harm women. There is so much more I want to learn about this area— and hopefully, in the future, teach– but first I must get support, which is why I am starting a Patreon.
I can’t do this work alone, please join me.