The 21st Century Christian Woman: feminism, women’s rights, and the bible.
Part 1: Down with the patriarchy!
A woman’s place in the world continues to be a hot topic, with many claiming that it’s time to finally topple the patriarchy that has ruled over our lives since the very beginning (whenever that ‘beginning’ might have occurred). Women are oppressed, men have all the power, and this has got to end!
The very fact that this is an open discussion, argued primarily by women who own their own talk-shows, means that there’s something amiss with the narrative. The irony!
The other day I listened to someone ranting against ‘misogynistic acts of the evil and oppressive cis-hetero white man’ and how glorious it is that women have been emancipated from the days of being barefoot in the kitchen. This amused me as I was literally standing barefoot, in the kitchen, cleaning up after cooking tea! According to this woman I should throw down my broom, tell my husband to do his own cooking, and go and find a job.
Strangely, I had no desire to do so.
Don’t get me wrong, I neither like cooking or cleaning and am not particularly good at either, mostly because I keep getting distracted so that these tasks always take three times as long to complete. And I hate the noise of the smoke alarm. If given a choice I’d much rather spend my time otherwise and leave these tasks to my husband, who is not only more efficient in cleaning but, shockingly, enjoys cooking!
Yet every evening I cook tea and then clean up afterwards.
Am I betraying fellow womankind by participating in such dangerously gender-based activities? Do I metaphorically spit on the graves of those women who fought so hard to release their fellow sex from the shackles of the kitchen-sink? Am I enabling my husband to be a misogynistic tyrant, lording it over his kingdom at the expense of his subject/slave?
Yeah-nah.
Because I am not a feminist.
Before you pick up your imaginary placards and decide to cancel me, if you set your emotions aside and look at the facts of the matter, you’ll understand why. Since I know that this is difficult for women to do (we’re created more emotional – accept it, own it, use it), I’ve taken it upon myself to do the hard work for you, and hereby present the following mini-series on the 21st Century Christian Woman:
Part 1: Down with the patriarchy! This is the intro, which you’re currently reading. Congrats.
Part 2: Feminism: it’s a lie. What you think you know might not be the truth.
Part 3: Women’s rights: what exactly are we fighting for?
Part 4: What the Bible has to say - a whole heap!
Part 5: Living as a 21st century Christian woman. Putting it all together.
While five parts might sound like a lot, we’ll be barely getting our feet wet – this is a massive topic that is difficult to contain. Thus, this is not intended to be a hefty philosophical tome or religious debate, but a quick, easy-to-read, summary of a relevant yet highly contentious social and political subject.
If you have any questions or want to comment on anything that I’ve written, feel free to connect below, via socials, or using the email address.
Let’s move onto Part 2 and start by looking into what Feminism actually is!