I’ve been asked to post the results from the Survey for Men Regarding Women’s Councils:
Thank you to all the men who participated in the survey about the Women’s Council. We appreciate your time, perspective, and insight. Below, we’ll share the results for those who are interested. These results are not intended to end discussion or establish any definitive “truth.” They simply represent another set of data — a viewpoint that has not often been considered — which may add helpful context to the ongoing conversations among the women.
An interesting observation: In the open-ended questions, many men shared thoughtful ideas, suggestions, and concerns. Some felt the survey was biased against new movement-wide guidelines for women’s councils, while others felt it was biased in favor of them. This range of feedback suggests that the survey was likely reasonably (though not perfectly) balanced.
If you’re frustrated that this survey exists, please know that no ill will was intended toward any person or group. The purpose was simply to gather honest input and broaden understanding. There was considerable backlash to the survey, which led the creators to seriously question whether to release the results. However, it felt disingenuous to request participation and collect responses from 70+ men without sharing the findings.
No interpretations or conclusions will be offered. The results will be posted exactly as collected, for you to read and interpret yourself in the following graphics. Click any of these to enlarge them.
I took the survey, but found it difficult to actually answer the questions. For example, the first question asked: "Are you comfortable with the protections and instructions God has explicitly laid out in scripture about how women's councils ought to be conducted, or do you feel the women ought to add additional movement-wide guidelines or instructions?" This presents a question I could not answer with a "yes" or a "no". I'm comfortable with what has been laid out in scripture. So, "yes". But what does "add additional" mean? If it is discussing terms to make sure all the women are on the same page, that's one thing. The way it is worded it is implying that there is some effort to change/ignore or revise/edit what the Lord explicitly told us. Even the word "explicitly" implies that everyone thinks the same thing. Try as I might to keep my head down and avoid getting any information about this lively ongoing discussion among the women, word has leaked out that satisfies me that there are strong, differing opinions about what is "explicit". I would absolutely encourage the women to talk that through so that something is understood the same, accepted and applied uniformly, and the result of a consensus among the women. That hasn't happened as far as I can tell. So if the question is asking me if the women ought to reach a movement-wide consistent understanding leading to a uniform application of the instructions, then I'm part of the red pie sliver. But I'm not certain of that because the question needs some discussion before I could answer. When I took the survey, I didn't answer that one. That is why, I think, some questions got as many as 74 answers and some as few as 66. I guess I'm not alone in being perplexed about a question that is not clear enough for me to be able to answer.
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