The past few days my social media feed has been filled with images from a local women’s event. Let me clarify: a women’s religious conference. I see photos from this conference every year around this time with women proclaiming its excellence.
The title of the conference is Recreate. While I can’t find any information on their Facebook page or website about what the title stands for, the website is recreatewomen.com. I don’t have to think too much or too long to imagine what the evangelical (although somewhat progressive) church that hosts this event every year not-so-subtly insinuates by calling the conference “Recreate Women.” Allow me to explain my thought process.
The women are greeted on their drive into the campuses (yes, this event is held across multiple locations) by young men—MALES—holding signs that say such phrases as “You are loved,” “You are chosen,” “You are brilliant,” “You are beautiful,” and “God loves you.” Immediately, it strikes me that this is a subtle move to remind women upon arrival that they are dependent on men to tell them who they are. It’s a typical patriarchal move.
The speakers are usually women, and the topics are usually about encouraging one another and being who God made them to be. They’re seemingly innocuous topics, but from what I can tell from photos, the same, harmful underlying message that dominates all evangelical churches exists: you are not good enough on your own.
It seems to me the focus of the conference is about recreating women because telling a woman she needs to be recreated into something more is profitable business. How better to make money than to imply to a woman that she is not good enough AS SHE IS, then create a party atmosphere in which she is made to feel better about herself? It’s gaslighting at its best.
This conference costs $75 per ticket, and it sells out a year in advance. Merchandise is available for purchase. A sweatshirt costs $30. There are photo booths complete with neon signs, ring lights and confetti. The marketing for this conference is really on point. They know women love a good, fun photo. The creative team puts together cutesy sketches and songs about how much women love Target. This conference appears to run like a well-oiled machine.
