A Reclaimed Feminism
- Posted by Manuel Manceli
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On a lazy Sunday afternoon not too long ago, I was sprawled out in our living room reading book reviews in the L.A. Times. I came to an interview with Erica Jong, the author of one of the seminal works of second-wave feminism, The Fear of Flying. This answer stood out to me:
Are you surprised by the resurgence of battles over reproductive rights and other women’s issues?
For a while, I thought they were over, but I understand that when you have a fringe group of people… like all fascistic groups, they’re going to want women home in the kitchen again…Really, what they’re interested in is getting rid of birth control and keeping women at home.
I don’t know who “they” are and why “they” are fascists, but I do know that, in that moment, God started speaking to me about value. From an intimate personal experience, I am quite certain that women make up a full half of the most discontented people in the world. True statistic.
The previous post covered the fundamental problem with asserting our will over God’s, so I will not argue the issue of reproductive rights again. However, the issues surrounding reproductive rights reveal women’s constant and profound struggle for worth. Will I be worth more if I escape the kitchen and enter the workplace? Will I have higher value if my net worth equals or exceeds that of a man? Which man and in what industry? Will I finally value myself if get rid of this unwanted pregnancy, strike out on my own and [fill in the blank]?
HE MADE ME WHOLE
In the interview, Ms. Jong claims that, “Feminism only means that women want the right to be whole human beings. End of story.” You’re right. End of story. But I don’t need to assert my rights nor contort my life in striving for someone else’s acknowledgement. I was created a whole human being.
At creation, God called me ezer kenegdo, which cannot be simply translated “helper” or “help meet” (Gen. 2:18). Ezer: power, strength, rescue. It is derived from a more ancient word, azar: to protect, aid, succor and give material and/or nonmaterial encouragement. Twenty more times, ezer appears in the Old Testament, describing God Himself acting to rescue and protect His people (e.g. Deut. 33:26,29, Ps. 33:20, Hsa. 13:9). The first ezer kenegdo was Eve. The name Eve itself translates to “life; living.” What is our corporate memory verse this season, but “[s]o God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them” (Gen. 1:27). To what higher worth can I attain in life than to be the image-bearer of the protective, strong, encouraging, life-giving facets God’s nature?
The second word, kenegdo: in front of, corresponding to, opposite, parallel to. Biblical manhood and womanhood picture man and woman as two distinct but equal pillars in God’s house, two curves of an arch, two partners in a dance (and unlike most of the animal kingdom, I get to be the pretty one!). In summary, my womanhood was created to play a distinct and vital role in glorifying God.
TRUTH AND CONSEQUENCES
The thing is, God and my Christian faith have not relegated me to a mere derivative of something or someone else. The New Testament affirms the creation mandate of valuing, cherishing and calling women as co-heirs in Christ (e.g. Acts 16:14, Gal. 3:28, Eph. 5:25, 1 Cor. 11). Rather, our society is calling us to define ourselves relative to job titles, bottom lines (and often other people’s bottom lines!) and sexual freedoms. It asks us to approximate men as best as we can, so we eschew motherhood, we “lean in,” we rail and we rant against de facto inequalities. Further, it holds up this caricature of hyper-femininity for us grasp. We view ourselves in the light of models and celebrities, our parties and our homes in light of luminous Pinterest photos (compare this to 1 Pe. 3:3-4), our men as either status symbols or subordinates. And the cherry on top: society has judged, and it tells us that what we are doing is worthless – the feeding of our families, the intentional raising of our children, the endless chores, the part time jobs, the quiet service of the Body. Our world cries, Get out of the kitchen! Be a whole person! The assumption being that we are not.
At some point, we should stop and ask of any behavior, how is this working out for us? Divorce was supposed to liberate upper class women, freeing them to pursue greater self-worth. That is, until it became a plague to half of us and a scourge to socio-economically depressed women: The Evolution of Divorce. Abortion was supposed to dignify women by distancing them from the nuisance of life-giving, until it began to destroy women (and approximately 57 million American babies since Roe v. Wade): Psychological Risks of Abortion. We lust and we covet, and we do not have (James 4:2).
And lest we leave this struggle for worth outside the church, Christian women, your womanhood is not defined by your predilection for boho-chic nor women’s desserts. It does not hang on whether you are married or single, whether you are a mother or not, whether you stay home with your children or you work, whether you are a size 2 or a size 12, whether your clothes and house are magazine-worthy. Christ Himself and Christ alone holds your womanhood, and He made you whole.
“For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light.” –Ps. 36:9
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