Aimee Semple McPherson

Abstract

Because so many people have contributed analyses of Aimee Semple McPherson’s significance, one might well ask what more there could possibly be to say. The purpose of this article is not to break new ground on McPherson herself, but rather to apply a gendered lens to the existing McPherson scholarship in order to suggest three ways to use theories from gender studies to think about Aimee Semple McPherson, worship, and the arts. These theories prove fruitful for the case of McPherson, and there is every reason to think it would be a useful exercise to apply similar approaches to our study of other pentecostal, charismatic, and revivalist leaders.