Disclaimer: I am a work in progress, and I am still learning and unlearning many truths and ideas about what it means to be a woman, namely a woman of God who is also an advocate. So, bear with me, friends.
“I am woman; let God roar.”
I heard those words for the first time a few Fridays ago, at a woman’s conference held at my church. Anticipation and longing filled the room as we discussed what it meant to be a woman in the 21st century. We wanted to be affirmed. We wanted to understand. We were afraid that our womanhood wasn’t the appealing version the world presented. I know these uncertainties kept my heart pounding the entire time, but I’m sure I speak for many present that day in this: those words, in lieu of “I am woman; hear me roar,” were transformative—are transformative.
Feminism has several definitions. There is much to be said about the arena of third-wave feminism that is rooted in hatred and division; the section that proposes equality but subverts that very idea (due to resentment of the “patriarchal” society that harmed them, which is fair, but misguided at best). For the sake of moving forward, let’s assume most people agree that this extreme, man-hating wave is not the one to ride (and I do believe this is true, but my apologies if this offends in any way). There’s also the feminist ideal of intersectionality: the advocacy of marginalized peoples. To preface, this is the kind of feminism I think is good by any standard. Let’s take it a step further and put feminism under a different light: The Bible.
Womanhood is a lovely theme that keeps sprouting up in this season of life—a season that I myself and friends I’ve spoken to agree has been difficult in many ways. From seasonal depression to anxiety about future-plans up to summer, and even graduation, the demands of 21st century living heightens in the spring—piling onto the inadequacies we already feel—women and men alike.
In my discipleship group, we are reading Captivating by Stasi and John Eldredge. Now at first, I was a little skeptical. Was this book just going to tell me that I had to relinquish my feminist ideals? Would it box me in? After reading only the first two chapters, we are already struck with a revelation. God created a woman as the finishing touch because lack of company is not good. Women reflect God’s ultimate desire for relationship. Therefore, the heart of Biblical feminism is a metaphor for God’s hurt because of our ignorance and unwillingness to know Him, to see Him.
It is no wonder feminism, or the idea of fighting for us and for others to be seen, appeals to women. We are desperate to be known, and so is our Creator. But in a society where God Himself has been “marginalized,” how do we reconcile the supposed Biblical narrative that women are less or not as capable as men?
We can’t.
At least not without digging deeper into the heart of God and the heart of women. Upon this we build a foundation for Biblical feminism.
Psalm 139 is a great place to start. “Oh Lord, you have searched me and known me!” David cries out.
This Psalm is a stunning image of God’s intimate knowledge of us. He knitted us together, and therefore He knows every intricate detail of who we are. Verse 7 says, “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?” Knowing that God is always with us is a comfort, but it can also be convicting. To think the God of the Universe knows me so well and deeply desires to spend time with me, and yet I continually find myself spent on school, work, and well, Twitter. Believer or not, we spend so much time letting our relationships dry up. I think verses 17 and 18 of Psalm 139 sum up the posture of one after God’s heart:
How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
I awake, and I am still with you. (ESV)
To be so enthralled with another’s existence! Even God’s—that is definitive companionship. And because God created woman as a reflection of his ultimate desire for mankind, that is relationships with others and Himself, inherent in a woman is the deep desire for relationship. Now, this is not to put a blanket over all women embroidered with neediness, but rather to show that we share a characteristic with God that is profound to our humanity.
You may be asking “how does this relate to feminism?” Well, let’s ask a few questions first (and anyone can relate to these). Have you ever felt ignored? By a parent, friend, significant other, coworker, or even a stranger? Of course, you have. And if you are a woman, you have experience more than just disregard. Perhaps at the hand of a man, or many men. Perhaps you’ve been demeaned, accused, or wounded physically, sexually, and emotionally. These more than hurt. These injustices crush one’s esteem and identity. That effect is a testament of your design. Being pushed aside is not what we were created for or created to do to others.
When Jesus came to earth, he disrupted the system of prideful and arrogant men. He brought hope to the disregarded, and this included women. Think of the woman at the well, the adulterous woman, or the various women that followed Him such as Mary Magdalene. Paul would echo this revolution in words later saying, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28 ESV). This is Biblical intersectionality. Jesus wants to know us, and He wants us to know Him and He wants us to know each other. And He died for such a cause. For, “He Himself bore our sins in his body in the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By HIS wounds you have been healed (1 Peter 2:24).” Do these accounts of the way Jesus lived reflect the “sexist” stamp placed on the Word of God? I say no.
In the Eldredges’ book, the aspect that most struck me about women being God’s image of a relational desire was that women specifically reflect anything of God at all. Subconsciously, I associate men as more closely related to God than women. But this is not true. Here is where secular feminism fails; it fails to truly define womanhood apart from manhood by belittling the ways in which we are different and deeming certain qualities as weak. For example: gentleness.
It is not true for every single woman, of course, but generally women take a gentler approach to life than some men do. As we read in Galatians 5:22, one of the fruits of the Spirit is gentleness. To have a fruit of the Spirit as a natural trait (albeit imperfect) is significant. It’s one of the various ways in which I am personally discovering how this woman reflects her Creator.
This is not an attempt to simply stick a label on the Gospel so that it looks more appealing, but rather to dive into why we feel so strongly about marginalized populations, equality, and reevaluating gender roles. These are not bad endeavors. We do not have a Savior who is unable to sympathize with our troubles, but he endured all temptation without sin. Therefore, we also do not have a God who does not understand or ignores injustice. We who are made in His likeness—created for sweet fellowship with Him and others—share this hatred for injustice. So, we march. We argue. We speak up for each other. We challenge our laws.
The issue is that while the intention is good, pride muddies the water and our approach becomes misguided. The goal is not to say, “not all men,” but rather to climb out of the chasm we have all fallen into: ignoring the brokenhearted and furthering the incessant pride of a fallen nature.
Won’t we instead look to the ultimate Just Advocate God, examine our design and embrace our equally reflective image of God—tearing down walls of oppression as we obey Jesus’s command to “go, therefore and make disciples…I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20)
Leah, a sophomore majoring in English at Florida State University, loves the arts. She enjoys writing and music, as well as social awareness and mental health issues. Upon graduation, she hopes to work as a magazine editor or journalist. She often feels at a loss for how to live a fruitful life, but finds that her constant is God's faithfulness and that is more than enough.