Gender trouble? On the gender constitution of clergymen's wives

Abstract

When my informant Elisabeth told me: “You have to accept it, otherwise one cracks up”, my first thought was that I here was dealing with a serious kind of “gender trouble” or at minimum a serious kind of marital trouble. This because Elisabeth, on the one hand, claimed to be a “modern”, professional woman with a full-time job and yet, on the other hand, told me that she was subordinated under her husband’s occupation and that she was willing to accept this.