The influence of fundamentalist Christianity on politics and policy in the United States has never been more visible ― particularly when it comes to the rights and role of women in American life. And there’s one doctrine that informs much of this movement: complementarianism.

“Complementarianism is the belief that men and women are ‘equal’ in value to God but have different God-given roles that complement each other,” April Ajoy, author of “Star-Spangled Jesus: Leaving Christian Nationalism and Finding a True Faith,” told HuffPost.

“It enforces stereotypical, traditional gender roles and focuses on women’s submission to male authority both at home and in the church,” Ajoy continued. “Complementarianism holds that only men can lead in the church and that husbands have complete authority over their wives. Wives are taught that God commands their complete submission and obedience to their husbands in everything.”

This belief that men and women have clear separate roles in marriage and society is quite widespread across fundamentalist Christian communities and evangelicalism.

Cait West, author of “Rift: A Memoir of Breaking Away From Christian Patriarchy,” grew up inside complementarianism and described it plainly.

“It is just another name for patriarchy, and some believers hold to it more strictly than others,” she said. “Men are supposed to be strong leaders, the heads of their households, and women are supposed to submit to their husbands in all things. The idea is that men and women who follow this “godly” plan complement each other as they serve God.”

Complementarians point to specific passages from scripture to justify this framework.

“The first example complementarians use is from Genesis, when God created Adam first, and then Eve to be his helpmeet,” West said.

Ajoy gave the example of Ephesians 5:22-24: “Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.”

“Most evangelicals who use this passage to keep women submissive to men conveniently ignore the verse right before it that says, ‘Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ,’” Ajoy noted.

While patriarchal beliefs in Christianity have a long history, the term itself is relatively new.

“‘Complementarianism’ was first used the year I was born, 1988, and was part of an evangelical resistance to the feminist movement,” West said. “It would come to define my life and influence arguably millions of Americans.”

The real-world implications of complementarianism vary in their extremeness but consistently center on limiting women’s autonomy.

“A woman under complementarianism is restricted in what she can do with her life,” West said. “Her husband is allowed to veto any of her decisions and have the last word in arguments. I was taught that women can voice their opinions discreetly in a marriage, but that husbands, as the leaders, must have the final say. Girls growing up in complementarian homes are taught that their true purpose in life is to be married and have children, often discouraged from going to college or working outside the home.”

Even in less strict homes or churches where women might have jobs, the complementarian framework mandates that they ultimately submit to their husbands, as men are meant to be the leaders in church and all aspects of society.

“This belief is taught in varying degrees ― from the more overt ‘Husbands must own their wives’ to the watered-down ‘ladies, you’ll be so much happier obeying God by letting your husband lead you,’” Ajoy said.

Deirdre Sugiuchi, author of the forthcoming memoir “Unreformed,” grew up in a fundamentalist Christian household and recalled “wild restrictions” stemming from this doctrine.

“My father decided my sister and I could no longer wear pants,” she said. “The ‘V shape’ of jeans, he said, made men focus on women’s “crotches,” and men couldn’t control their sexuality. When I was 6, he yelled at me for being ‘immodest’ for wearing a French braid in my hair ― according to a verse my father cherry-picked from Paul. I couldn’t question my father’s rules, I couldn’t question his physical, emotional or spiritual violence because I was a girl, and my father was a man, the head of the household.”

This doctrine doesn’t just restrict women in religious practices but also has real-world consequences for policy and other aspects of life.

“Complementarianism provides significant cover for abuse,” Ajoy said. “Pastors will often encourage women to stay in abusive marriages because they claim ‘God hates divorce.’ I’ve heard of pastors telling wives to endure the abuse for God and to figure out what lesson God is trying to teach them. Many Christian wives are suffering in silence today, having been told their pain is holy.”

West agreed that the doctrine creates an inherently dangerous hierarchy.

“Complementarianism can appear mild in some cases, and the way I came to understand it growing up was that complementarianism could be bearable if you happened to marry a good man who wouldn’t abuse his power,” she said. “But what I didn’t understand at the time was that the hierarchy set up by complementarianism inevitably strips women of their agency and gives men a disproportionate amount of power, which leads to unhealthy family dynamics and abuse.”

A family or church community doesn’t have to be abusive for this belief to harm women either.

“Though adherents to complementarianism argue that women are equal to men in value, being told you can’t do something just because you’re a woman is dehumanizing,” Ajoy said. “It’s very similar to the ‘separate but equal’ doctrine our nation adopted with racial segregation. As history shows us, there was no equality in that doctrine.”

She recalled theological debates in her church youth group and how boys would bring up 1 Timothy 2:11-12, which says, “Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence.”

“The verse was weaponized to silence me then and is still used to quiet the voices of women today,” Ajoy said.

“In reality, complementarianism is just patriarchy with a gentler-sounding name, and women within these churches often fail to recognize the cage they’re kept in,” West noted. “And because complementarians believe this is the only godly way to live, when they gain influence in politics, they start imposing their beliefs on policies and government.”

Indeed, the political implications are also significant.

“On a larger scale, many complementarians are part of the Christian Nationalist movement, seeking to repeal the 19th Amendment and outlaw no-fault divorce,” Ajoy said.

“They often promote ‘household voting,’ meaning each American family gets one vote that is decided by the head of household, the husband,” Ajoy added. “Meanwhile, wives should vote only as their husbands instruct them. This can also explain why this movement is staunchly anti-LGBTQ, as they have no way to designate a head of household in a same-sex marriage.”

Sugiuchi connected the doctrine directly to recent political events and cultural trends.

“The worldview that saw my sister and me as immodest for wearing pants is the same ideology that drove the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the belief that a woman’s body is not her own but a vessel for God’s will,” she said.

“The belief that a man should be the ‘head of the household’ is the same one that fuels the ‘tradwife’ movement on social media, where young women are told to embrace a life of submission and homemaking. It is the same mindset that has led to legislators in states like Louisiana to mandate the Ten Commandments be posted in public school classrooms, asserting a singular, patriarchal authority over all.”

Complementarianism is a dangerous belief that, if left unchecked, will spread beyond church walls into public society.

All three experts noted that while complementarianism has existed for decades, its influence has grown, and its connection to broader political movements has become harder to ignore.

“Complementarianism is a dangerous belief that, if left unchecked, will spread beyond church walls into public society,” Ajoy said.

“Despite it being a common belief in evangelicalism, the more extreme versions of complementarianism have been gaining influence with the spread of Christian Nationalism and the rise of trad wives,” Ajoy continued. “All of these are rooted in the patriarchy, so they complement each other. Pun intended.”

West sees a link to the rising misogyny fostered through online incel communities and the political power of figures like President Donald Trump, who was found liable for sexual abuse.”

“I have been discouraged by the number of young people being drawn to the ‘traditional’ life through online influencers,” she said. “For young men, complementarianism might seem like a solution to the anxiety and fear they feel in a world where they might not be the ones in charge. For young women, the idea of having a provider in an uncertain world can be a comfort.”

But this moment is part of a larger historical pattern in West’s eyes.

“The feminist movement in the ’70s and ’80s led to evangelicals creating the term complementarianism as part of a backlash to women’s liberation,” she said. “In history, all movement toward liberation is met with waves of resistance. This current trend is just another wave of pushback from people who do not want to see a truly liberated society.”

A common response to criticism of complementarianism is that it is simply a sincerely held religious belief that deserves respect. The experts who spoke to HuffPost pushed back on that framing.

“Of course I believe people should have freedom to live as they desire,” West said. “But the issue is what freedom actually means. If a woman decides to enter into a complementarian marriage, that is possibly the last free decision she will ever make because her husband is now her ‘ruler’ under this theology. If we understand the meaning of personal agency, we know that living under a gender hierarchy does not allow her to ever be free.”

She pointed to research on domestic abuse.

“It takes, on average, seven attempts for an abused woman to finally leave her abuser, and in the midst of that cycle, she may tell others she’s deciding to stay and that she loves her abusive partner,” West said.

“But we now understand that abuse is complex and that a woman in this situation is experiencing often-invisible stressors pressuring her to stay in a situation that harms her. I would argue the same is true for complementarian homes. I would tell a woman in this situation that her choice to be complementarian is only a free choice if she can also choose to leave.”

Ajoy offered a scriptural framework for evaluating the doctrine on its own terms.

“Matthew 7:18 says, ‘A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.’ I always say to look at the fruit of the belief,” she explained. “There are countless stories of bad men using complementarianism to abuse their wives or other women. There’s nothing Christ-like about shaming and degrading women. The fruit of the complementarian tree is rotten.”

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