Category: Gender Issues

Encounters with Sexism

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Every now and then I get that slap in the face reminder that sexism is alive and thriving in our world. Sometimes it can be easy to think otherwise. I attend a church that affirms my value as a woman, I have intelligent friends, I participate in emerging church forums, and I live in a progressive town. So in my day to day life I can pretend that most of the world actually thinks I’m human.  And many of the people I know are uncomfortable taking a stand for women mostly because they don’t see any apparent problems.  Then come the wake up calls.

I started the week at a women’s book discussion at my church where we are reading through Sue Monk Kidd’s Dance of the Dissident Daughter. I love that story of one woman’s awakening, and it served as a significant part of my journey in affirming my worth as a woman. Our discussion this week focused on how language is still often used to demean women. When the worst insults in our culture are to call someone a girl, when women are still pressured to have sons, and apologize for birthing daughters, when in business meetings women are ignored, or forced to be and dress like men in order to compete – sexism is alive and well. The constant blows at who we are surround us, and we all lamented that when we point out this stuff we are dismissed as angry bitches. That whole discussion was reflective and theoretical, but then I went out this week and saw it all in play.

A couple weeks ago I signed a letter to the Presidential Selection Committee for my alma mater Wheaton College encouraging them to consider female and minority candidates for the next President of Wheaton. Dr. Duane Litfin is retiring after 17 years of leading the college with an ultra-conservative hand. He was selected to steer the college away from a perceived “liberal” turn in the 1980s. So he brought his dispensational, cessationist, anti-ecumenical and anti-egalitarian views to the college. My former pastor, a friend of his, told me as I headed off to college that Litfin’s greatest fear for the college was the growing amount of women entering the biblical studies field. And while I was there, great efforts were taken to promote “Biblical Manhood and Womanhood” and silence the students for biblical equality groups. But now as he is leaving, there is a chance for the college to break those chains and take a stand for women. Yet even proposing that option has met with disdain. Responses to the mere suggestion of considering a woman or minority include – “You have got to be kidding me. Only in academia and government are such bogus voices funded and stroked. I feel specifically called to buy something with a pink ribbon emblem and then go wretch.” and “This is silliness. And it’s a classic example of what happens when people ignore the Pendulum of Truth” and “I do not think, however, that they should be set on finding a female or minority president. It is very likely that in doing that, they may end up with someone that will lead the school in a very dangerous direction.” Along with numerous assertions that the college should hire the most-qualified candidate, implying that a woman or a minority would not fit that bill. Sexism is alive and well.

Then here in Austin a couple of weeks ago, the DJ’s of my favorite morning radio show were suspended for using offensive language. The British radio host had used a phrase that sounded like a racial slur, and they laughed about the awkwardness of what her phrase sounded like. They were suspended without pay for a couple of weeks and forced to take cultural sensitivity classes. Since returning they have been very careful not to really say anything about other races, even stopping themselves in the middle of stories. But the use of women as insults has continued in full force. They constantly compare people to girls to show how weak and pathetic they are. They use references to women’s anatomy to insult people – especially the ever-popular term “douchebag.” Lesson learned – we have to be sensitive to other races but women are scum to be used however we like.

Similar lesson from this whole recent controvery about the Deadly Viper book. In the promo for the book about men’s intigrity published by Zondervan, the authors made use of Asian cultural references in really inappropriate and insensitive ways. It was obviously offensive, and a number of us in the Christian community pointed out that offense and asked for an apology. I fully affirm that an apology was needed to my Asian brothers and sisters, and the Christian community in general. At the same time, I was disturbed that many of the people calling for an apology were saying stuff like “I think the content of the book is great, I just have problems with the culturally insensitive packaging.” I think they were saying that to be nice and build bridges, but in all truth the curriculum is full of sexist stereotypes that use women as insults. The authors even have a video on their website promoting their Mancave series that is simply a series of gender stereotypes where manly=good and girly=bad. I applaud the efforts to stand up to insensitive racial stereotypes in the church, but wish people hadn’t affirmed gender stereotypes in the process. And I really wonder if that same group of people would put forth the effort to take a stand for treating women in the church with respect just like they asked for Asians in the church to be treated with respect. I want to believe they would, but far too often I see sexism protected by the shield of “theology” in ways that racism can never be in our modern world.

Sexism is alive and well. This week has just been a reminder of how far we have to go until women are respected as fully human and not demeaned for the sake of entertainment.

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Book Review – Sacred Friendships

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In this post-Christian age where those of us who follow Christ find ourselves increasingly moving towards the religionless faith that Bonhoeffer so accurately predicted would emerge, ideas that engage our spirituality continue to capture our attention.  We are looking for paths to follow that take us beyond dry and heady formulations of faith and allow us develop as spiritually whole persons.  So as one who participates in conversations regarding what a spiritually holistic faith might look like, I was excited to be sent Robert Kellemen’s and Susan Ellis’ new book on soul care and spiritual direction.  Sacred Friendships not only claimed to explore such topics, but to do so by giving voice to the myriad of silenced women’s voices in those fields throughout the centuries.

So it was with great eagerness that I started reading Sacred Friendships.  I desired to learn from the voices of the women who, according to the authors, participated in the “sustaining, healing, reconciling, [and] guiding” of their fellow believers.  I also greatly appreciated that the authors had chosen to listen to the voices of women from different time periods, many of which were outside of their own Evangelical camp.  In fact they make a good argument in the book for why Evangelicals can and should look to the full tradition of the Christian experience for inspiration and guidance.  I was grateful for that stance and dove into the book with high expectations.  Unfortunately those expectations were quickly disappointed as I became more and more uncomfortable with the picture of faith and women I encountered on the pages of the book.

Instead of holistic portrayals of women living a realistic faith, I discovered instead truncated hagiographies of women in traditional gender roles throughout history.  Although the authors stated that they had a great passion for empowering those who had been robbed of their voice, the authors took great care to let the reader know that in their desire to give voice to the silenced voices of women they were not supporting feminism.  And in fact they only gave voice to women in traditionally nurturing and caring roles like mothers, wives, and nuns.  While I fully agree that such women’s voices should be heard, I missed the voices of the teachers or preachers.   Even the stories of the women who perhaps skirted too close to that leadership line were quickly explained away as them simply living into their role as nurturers as best they could.  I failed to see how any of the included voices could ever have been considered silenced since they seemingly support historically approved roles for women.

Similarly many of the women profiled as saintly nurturers were in fact women from history that I would be quite hesitant to lift up as examples of positive faith at all.  Women like Augustine’s mother Monica who is generally known for her toxic manipulative faith were praised for speaking the truth to bring others to Christ.  There was no balance to the picture or admitting that sometimes guilt-tripping others into the faith might not be the healthiest way to spiritually direct a person.  But I soon discovered that the authors’ very definition of spiritual direction was simply confronting people with their sins and guiding them to conformity in Christ.  In no other context have I ever heard spiritual direction defined in such a way.  In my experience (and according to the definition provided at Spiritual Director’s International), spiritual direction involves conversations that help people discern where God is touching their lives directly or indirectly.  While making people feel guilty through confrontation or manipulation might make a woman a hero of the faith in the authors’ definition of spiritual direction, I could not affirm that as the most healthy or effective means of leading others into the faith in our post-Christian world.  Those of us within the postmodern sensibility see the hurt and the pain around us and we know we are responsible for causing that pain.  Being consumed with guilt and feeling bad about it doesn’t produce the fruit that is needed to change and heal the situation.  Healthy spiritual direction should help us get on board with what God is doing in the world, not paralyze us with navel-gazing introspective guilt.  While I think the authors might agree with me there, the endless stories of women presented in the book presented a far different story that encouraged readers down toxic spiritual paths.

I felt similar unease with the presentation of soul care in the book.  While the stories of women who helped others through their pain and suffering were inspiring, I found the manner of how to do so to be generally unhelpful.  The authors made clear their disdain for modern therapy and the use of drugs to treat depression (which was equated at one point with the sin of sloth).  The alternatives they presented though often promoted Gnostic dualisms like the rejection of the body and this world in favor of focusing on the blessings of heaven to come.  They similarly encouraged readers to simply dwell on the idea of Jesus for healing as if he were some sort of magic wand that can make everything all better.  I cringe at such advice because I have seen too many people hurt by the counsel to just repeat the mantra of Jesus’ name without ever doing the hard work it takes to heal their hearts and relationships with others.  While Jesus is of course the one who heals, healthy soul care should offer more substantial advice that to just “fix your eyes on Jesus.”

Our world has changed and the name of Jesus is no longer best proclaimed through systematic ideas and structures.  People are desperate for a holistic spirituality to guide their faith journey.  The idea of reaching back into the wealth of historic voices, especially the voices of women, to find wisdom to shape that journey is a beautiful thought.  Being sustained in our faith, healed of our pain, reconciled in our relationships with God and others, and guided into where God is already working are all concepts that should be affirmed in this postmodern world.  I just couldn’t get onboard with the often unbalanced and unhealthy ways of doing so suggested in Sacred Friendships.

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‘Indecent’ Clothing and Abusive Control

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My most recent post over at the God’s Politics blog –

Over the past couple of months, I’ve followed the unfolding story of Lubna Hussein, the Sudanese woman who was arrested for wearing pants and who decided to not be quiet about her arrest. The facts of the story are that Lubna Hussein and 12 other women were arrested in Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, in July for wearing pants at a local café. Sudan’s penal code states that up to 40 lashes and a fine should be assessed of anyone “who commits an indecent act which violates public morality or wears indecent clothing.”

Most of these women quietly paid the fine and received their lashings, but Lubna Hussein decided to plead not guilty. She sent out invites to journalists to attend her trial and dared the Sudanese authorities to whip her publicly so the whole world could see how Sudan treats its women. She was eventually sent to jail, but was released after a government official paid her fine in order to remove her voice from the spotlight.

To Hussein, this was not just about wearing pants. The law is unevenly applied, and in some areas of the country women wear pants without fear of punishment. The pants were merely a symbol of the trend to suppress the voices of women. And as even her critics have pointed out, this wasn’t about gaining simple political advantage for women, for in Sudan women have won the right of equal pay to men, and occupy leading positions. Specific instances of equality matter less than the general atmosphere women have to face every day. As Hussein points out, the indecency law “targets just women–I’ve never heard of a man arrested for indecent clothing, and furthermore the law doesn’t even define ‘indecent.’ It’s left up to the police officer’s whim.” Women’s bodies are shamefully being used against them as a means of control.

Having experienced the conservative Christian version of this obsession with so-called “indecency,” I too have witnessed how clothing is simply a pretense for control. I’ve been disciplined for wearing the “inappropriately casual and therefore indecent” choice of a denim skirt and Keds at church camp. I’ve been on the youth trips where more time is devoted to discussing what sort of swimsuits and tank tops are allowed than to Bible study. I’ve had my youth pastor give me the long lingering look and tell me to go home and change because if it rained my white t-shirt would be too indecent. And I’ve heard students at Christian colleges within the last few years brag about how relevant their school is now because women can wear jeans to class. I’ve also read of the communities in the U.S. that pass laws banning clothing styles common in African-American communities. Or schools that insist on dress codes where all students must look like middle-class white men stepping off the golf course in their khakis and polos.

In America, we are not strangers to controlling people through rules about clothing. We may not physically beat people, but if there are people that we want controlled — be they women, or youth, or racial minorities — we have no problem fining or otherwise punishing them for their personal choices. Often, this has very little to do with any real indecency, but is simply an excuse to silence the voices we might fear. Lubna Hussein found herself in a position where she could challenge that use of women’s bodies as a means to control them. Unlike Hussein, most women didn’t have the legal and monetary resources to stand up to the government, so she became their voice. The pants were merely a symbol of a larger issue.

It is disappointing but not surprising that the Sudanese government decided to avoid dealing with this issue. It is easy to let specific instances slide as long as they can retain the right to forcibly control women when they desire. And it is easy to think that issues like these are restricted to other religions or other countries. But the use of fear and shame to control others still runs rampant in our country as well. Women all over the world remain silent daily out of fear of what men may do to them. When even their clothing choice can be punished by a fine or lashing; by a stoning or a rape; or simply by the reminder that they are less important than men or even that they are merely objects that men can use; it is easy for their voice to dwindle away. So I applaud women like Lubna Hussein who get at the roots of injustice and challenge even the small parts of a system that deny women a voice or full personhood.

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Book Review: The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

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It’s been awhile since I’ve stumbled upon a good non-fantasy young adult novel, but The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate is a rare find. The concept intrigued me – a young girl living at the end of the 19th century finds herself caught between the worlds of her mother’s expectations for her life (which involves a lot of knitting and cooking) and the passion for scientific discovery she discovers in the pages of Mr. Darwin’s books and her grandfather’s laboratory. The concept got me to pick up the book, and the first line had me hooked – “By 1899, we had learned to tame the darkness but not the Texas heat.” By the end of the first page, I knew I was in for a treat. Author Jacqueline Kelly has captured that palpable descriptive style reminiscent of Harper Lee that transports the reader into another world. The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate has that brilliant mix of character development, rich description and vocabulary, and historical allusion that is sure to land it a quick spot on middle school required reading lists, but which also guarantees a truly delightful read.

Calpurnia Virginia Tate, Callie Vee, is the only girl of seven children growing up in rural Texas at the turn of the last century. Her brothers (all named after heroes of the Texas fight for Independence) run wild, her mother takes frequent doses of her “tonic” to cope with the chaos, and her grandfather remains aloof sequestered away in his laboratory or library. And while her mother is trying to train her into a proper lady, Callie Vee would rather spend her days observing insects, collecting strange plants, and making scientific observations in her notebook. She follows her grandfather on his trips to collect specimens by the river and helps him with his experiments. She is fascinated by the natural world, incessantly wondering why it works the way it does. What she is far less interested in are the tasks like knitting socks, making dough, practicing piano, and going to school to learn decorum and handiwork. Her deepest dream that she is too afraid to even voice is to attend the University someday to become a scientist. But since the only working women she has known are schoolteachers and the switchboard operator for her town’s one telephone, she doesn’t even know if women can be scientists. The beauty of her passion for the natural world and the absurdity of the restrictions placed on her because she is a girl set the tension of the novel, which ends on a hopeful yet ambiguous note.

I like the character of Callie Vee because she fits right into her time. She isn’t a committed feminist ahead of her time, nor did the author rewrite history in order to fit a strong female personality. No, Callie Vee is simply a young girl discovering her world and her passions and running up against the constraints of gender. There is no sermonizing on the evils of sexism, just the reflection from the perspective of an 11 year old about how certain aspects of society just don’t seem fair. This isn’t an anachronistic story that has her overcoming the injustices of the world, but neither is it a defeating story about her dreams being crushed. Callie Vee, like most spunky girls, pushes her boundaries where she can and lives to the fullest otherwise.

So from a historical and feminist perspective, I loved this book. This is the sort of book I want my daughter (and son) reading. My only quibble with the book is a personal one. As much as I loved the story of a girl as a naturalist – observing and wondering at the natural world, I was disappointed that the book perpetuated the myth that there can be no congress between science and faith. Callie Vee rejects the imaginative fairy worlds she used to play at as she strives to be strictly scientific. The same holds true with religion, with the scientist in the book having given up on the church in favor of studying the world. While I know the dichotomy is accurate historically, I just wish that it wasn’t always assumed that “objective” scientists must reject imagination, faith, and mystery. Such things aren’t necessarily incompatible, we are just constantly told that they are. So it disappointed me to hear that (mildly) reaffirmed in what is otherwise a fantastic book about self-discovery, awe of nature, and strong intelligent girls. But those good aspects far outweigh that subtle message, leaving us with what is simply a good book that is a much needed addition to the world of young adult fiction.

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Good Southern Girls

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I’m a Texas girl – born and raised here. And although I spent 12 years living on the OTHER side of both the Mississippi and the Mason-Dixon line, it’s hard to escape that upbringing.

The unfortunate part of being a Southerner living in the Midwest is that most Midwesterners liked to pretend they have no regional dialect or accent and so can therefore make fun of those of us that did. I endured 12 years of being made fun of for saying “y’all” and for merging my vowels in “pin/pen.” The worst was my supervising teacher for my ESL teaching practicum. She would stop my lessons to make fun of me in front of my students and failed me for my incompetency in speaking the English language. Thankfully my professor didn’t think having a Southern as opposed to a Chicago accent was sufficient reason to fail me actually, she thought it was really dumb and said no students would ever be assigned to that particular teacher again…). But in all truth there are aspects of Southern speech patterns that I struggle with. Not that I’m some grammarnazi who thinks regional dialects are somehow substandard forms of English, but that these language constructions are rooted in a cultural ethos, or way of being, that I don’t know if I want to affirm.

Some might call it cultural politeness or tentativeness. Others an ingrained attitude of submission, subservience, and deference. In short, it is constructions of language that seek to lessen any offense or imperative and that keeps the needs and feelings of the other in mind. For example – using y’all to refer to one person. Saying to the friend entering your house “y’all might want to wipe your feet,” isn’t a grammatical mistake, but a way to soften the request. Making the request plural makes it less of a direct order and puts less pressure on the person.

Same thing with the double modal, which is probably the most ridiculed part of Southern English. Saying something like “you might should bring your apple pie to the potluck” ensures that anyone could politely refuse since it isn’t a direct imperative. Or to say “I might could go out with you this weekend,” is a polite response without having to offer a commitment or direct (hurtful) refusal. The double modal lessens the severity of the request or refusal, always keeping in mind the feelings, preferences, and social position of the other.

Now on one hand, choosing to care about other’s needs is a good thing. Basic humility, loving others, all that. Knowing how one’s words affect others is a beneficial thing to be aware of that can do great kindness to others. The issue arises in that the people who make use of these aspects of Southern English are African Americans and women. It is cultural habit to even within patterns of speech place themselves below others. That’s what I have a problem with. Even if we are unaware of doing it, the habits reinforce the degrading and demeaning aspects of racism and sexism.

So its a strange dilemma. I want to respect others, and consider others better than myself in light of biblical humility. But, I don’t want to do so because I am a woman and therefore must place the needs of others, especially men, before mine. It’s hard and something I struggle with. I’ve been indoctrinated that good Christian Southern girls DO NOT assert their preferences on anything – they always wait to hear what others want first. I know it’s stupid, but it’s hard to get past cultural conditioning. And its hard to fight something as pervasive as language.

So I wonder what others do. Are any readers here from Southern, or Germanic, or Asian cultures where this deference, or “one-down” sort of language is common? Does it fall along similar race or gender lines? How do you navigate the issues?

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Father’s Day Thoughts

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At a recent wedding I attended, one of the groomsmen toasted the bride saying that she was going to make the perfect wife because she had already demonstrated her ability to be her fiancé’s full time maid and wait on him and his friends hand and foot.  My husband later told me that he sincerely hoped that no one would say something like that about our daughter at her wedding.  As a pastor he knows that any marriage based on such unbalanced submission is on shaky ground.  But more importantly, as a father, he would be heartbroken to see our daughter’s exuberance, inquisitive nature, and passionate love for life reduced to a toast like that.

Granted, our daughter is four, so even the vague thought of a wedding is years away, but now is the time when who she is as a person gets shaped.  When the values we want to impart as her parents compete with all sorts of other messages telling her what little girls should be like.  Now, we have no problem with her playing at princesses and fairies or having a wardrobe of all pink.  The real dangers come with those who want to limit who she is simply because she’s a girl.  Messages that tell her that girls cook and clean in the background while the boys explore and achieve.  That tell her that her worth stems from being physically appealing to boys.  Or that tell her that her voice is offensive or unwanted by God.  And as much as we’d like to believe that such messages are a quaint thing of the past, we continually see them popping up in the most unlikely of places.  From Cinderella’s maxim that to be beautiful is to be good (and to be ugly is to be evil), to Snow White sitting around waiting for her prince to come, to Sunday school lessons that focus exclusively on the male heroes of the Bible, she encounters values that will restrict her sense of self.

While I as a mother can encourage her to pursue her dreams and to not listen to those messages, in today’s world fathers must also play a major role in challenging those limitations.  Daughters need not be told by daddy that they can be whoever they want to be and then witness daddy go watch TV while mommy cooks dinner and does the dishes.  Or overhear daddy tell others that they play soccer well “for a girl.”  Fathers, now more than ever, need to be aware of how they help shape the way girls view themselves as people and in relation to men.

My daughter, like many young girls, is a total daddy’s girl, and constantly seeks his approval and mimics his actions.  This special relationship provides fathers with the chance to encourage their daughters to develop into whole people.  In our home, we do our best to show our daughter that both mommy and daddy work, and cook, and clean, and change diapers, and take time to relax.  My husband plays dress up fairies as well as lightsaber duals with my daughter.  He doesn’t want to push her into the preconceived box of “this is the way girls are”, but encourages her to be herself and use her active imagination.  We are, of course, making many mistakes along the way, but I am grateful my husband is being the type of father my daughter needs in order to grow up not into a set of stereotyped expectations, but into a healthy and whole version of herself.

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Afghanistan’s Anti-Woman Law

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I have a new post up at the God’s Politics blog about Afghanistan’s new Anti-Woman Law and I ask why we don’t do more to help bring freedom to oppressed women around the world.

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Last month Afghanistan’s Parliament passed a new law that severely restricts the rights of women.  Although the Afghan constitution calls for equal rights for men and women, this new law imposes standards that some say are worse than what the Taliban demanded.  This law forbids women to leave their homes except for emergencies; it forbids them to work or receive education without their husband’s express permission; it strips mothers of custody rights to their children in case of divorce; it makes it impossible for wives to inherit land or houses from their husbands; and it even permits marital rape, saying that women cannot refuse sexual relations unless they are sick.

And if those violations of women weren’t enough, it appears that President Karzai approved the law in an attempt to win more votes during an election year.  Apparently guaranteeing men the legal right to rape their wives scored high on the felt needs survey for his key swing demographic.  This isn’t simply cultural, or a way to “protect” women, as defenders are saying.  Expressions of conservative Muslim faith do exist that don’t treat women as pawns to be used by men for their own selfish ends.  This is about stripping women of their identity and humanity – controlling all aspects of their lives, including (especially) their bodies.

I’ve heard similar reports out of Iraq.  Since the fall of Saddam and the creation of the U.S. approved government, the rights of women have been restricted.  Many say that things are worse for women these days in Iraq than they were under Saddam.  This seriously bothers me.  In all of our attempts to spread freedom and democracy we seem to actually be making things worse for women.  And while the U.N. is calling for a repeal of this human rights violation and the British press is reporting on the outrage surrounding the law, I’ve heard very little about it in the U.S. press.  Why aren’t we outraged?  Why aren’t we standing up to defend the rights of Afghani women?

I have to wonder if we have been so indoctrinated by the anti-feminist rhetoric of pulpits and politicians that as a culture we instinctively shy away from doing anything that might make us seem like man-hating, bra-burning activists.  Women in our country can be educated, vote, have a bank account and a job, and yet somehow still think the term “feminist” is a bad word.  Freedoms and human rights were fought hard for by our predecessors, who didn’t fear the negative attitudes or hurtful words thrown at them by those who disapprove of equality.  We reap the benefits of those pioneers, but are too constrained by cultural ideologies to help bring those same freedoms to other women.

Sometimes though, outrage and activism are exactly what is needed.

 

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The God Who Sees: International Women’s Day Synchroblog

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Shortly after I took a position as Children’s Ministry Director at a small Baptist church, I sat down with the kids under my care and asked them what questions they would like to ask God. One girl, one of the oldest in the class who had grown up in churches and private Christian schools, told me that she would ask God why he hates girls. I asked her why she thought that and she replied that since there were no women in the Bible and since Jesus only choose male disciples, God must hate girls. To a fifth grader at least that’s the way things appeared.

I was shocked to hear her assumption. Here was a girl immersed in the church who had never been exposed to the stories of the women of the Bible. She had never been told of the mothers of the faith or the women leaders in the early church. The stories of women faithfully choosing to serve and follow God no matter the consequences were not part of her heritage. She didn’t see herself reflected in the Bible, and so her only assumption was that God had rejected her entire gender. My heart broke for her (and as children’s director, I did my best to tell the stories of biblical women).

Unfortunately though, ignoring the women of the Bible is far too common in many churches. When their stories aren’t told regularly, the church forgets about them and starts to assume that our faith has roots solely in the deeds of men. While of course those men’s stories are to be valued and explored, the Bible is rich with examples of women of faith as well. Though the church fails to heed their stories, God remembers who they were and how they served him. He is in truth the God who sees.

The name “the God who sees” (El Roi) was a name given to God by Hagar. An Egyptian slave, cast out by Sarah and Abraham into the desert, she epitomized rejection. But God noticed her plight and came to her aid. In thanksgiving she reaches into her pagan background and ascribes a name to this God who saw her struggles. God accepts this name just as he accepted the rejected and dejected Hagar. Her story is woven into our story of faith

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Blog and Preach to Honor International Women’s Day This Sunday

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Each year on March 8 the world takes time to observe International Women’s Day. It is a day dedicated to the celebration of women’s social, economic, and political achievements worldwide. In the United States, this official day of observance is rooted in women’s efforts to campaign for rights to work, vote, and hold public office, culminating on March 8, 1908, when 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter work hours, better pay, voting rights, and an end to sweatshop conditions and child labor. In the early 1910s, the concept gained recognition in the international community and grew momentum as women across Europe continued to fight for the right to work and protest against ensuing world conflict.

This year March 8 falls on a Sunday. I know Sundays aren’t typically big blogging days since they are days when we take time to focus on our faith. But for that reason, I think we should make an effort this year to bring our faith to the celebration of IWD. So I’d like to suggest a joint synchroblog/synchrosermon observance of the day for Christians. Too often in the church not only are the voices of women not heard, but the stories of biblical women remain untold. But the Bible is full of inspiring examples of women faithfully following God and making a tremendous difference for the kingdom. So this year on International Women’s Day I invite men and women alike to take the time to explore the lives of these great women through a:

Synchroblog – On March 8 post something on your blog about biblical women. This could be your experience (or lack thereof) with learning about these women, a reflection on the life of a particular woman, an exploration of the ways women led in scripture, or a midrashic retelling of the life of one of these women. Have fun with it, push yourself to discover new things, and let’s tell these stories together.

Synchrosermon – These stories of women are rarely told from the pulpit, so I encourage those of you preaching or teaching on March 8 to include the stories of biblical women in whatever you do. The church often won’t hear about these women or learn from their example unless pastors and teachers make a deliberate effort to dwell on the mothers of our faith as much as they usually dwell on the fathers.

It’s not difficult. This isn’t like other negative or angry IWD blog endeavours I’ve seen (and participated in) in the past. It is simply a way to positively encourage women and let women’s voices be heard.

So if you are interested in participating, leave a comment here so I can post the list of participants. Feel free to promote this among your networks as well. And thanks for helping women continue to have a voice.

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Standing Up To Religious Bullies

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Check out my new post at God’s Politics – India’s Women Stand Up To Religious Bullies

 

At the end of January in Mangalore, India, a group of right-wing extremists, the Sri Rama Sena, entered a bar and assaulted the women there.   This pro-Hindu group is known for its moral policing and told the authorities that they attacked the women “because of the attitude of the young women.” They accused the women of “involving themselves in immoral activities, including consuming alcohol, dressing indecently, and mixing with youths of other faith.”  These men used their religion and personal conception of Indian culture as excuses to violently lash out against those whose lifestyles they disagreed with.  The attack, which involved the men beating, chasing, and kicking the women who fell down, was caught on tape and aired on Indian television to a shocked public.

The response from women was swift.  Since the Sena also threatened to attack any couple they found celebrating on Valentine’s Day, a campaign was created asking women to stand up against extremism and bullying on February 14.  Supporters were asked to send the Sena pink chaddis (Indian slang for underwear) and to deliberately go to pubs on Valentine’s Day.  A group called the “Consortium of Pub-going, Loose and Forward Women” formed on Facebook and in about a week’s time grew to over 50,000 members (one of the fastest growing groups ever).   The Sena has yet to comment on the protest and consortium members are moving forward in a new campaign to help assert the diversity of Indian culture.

I applaud these women for taking a stand against those who would use violence to control them, but it was a sobering reminder of the ways religion is used to bully women.  Perhaps women aren’t always being brutally attacked in the streets, but they still have violence perpetrated against them.  Violence also consists of emotional insults used to belittle and demean, as well as manipulative strategies employed to exert control over others.

I’ve been a part of Christian culture long enough to hear my fair share of violent talk from men attempting to bully me into their vision for the world.  I’ve been condemned for the same “immoral activities” the Sena attacked the Indian women for.  As a student at a Christian college, I constantly read fliers or letters in the student newspaper about how indecently the girls on campus dressed.  We were told that it was our fault for causing the men to stumble and that if we were good Christians we would dress differently.  Looking back, I know that in that conservative Midwestern environment we actually were extremely modest in our dress, but had been manipulated into feeling sinful and guilty by those wishing to control us and abdicate their personal issues onto us.

This same violent manipulation is used by those who blame women for getting raped because of their appearance or who tell women that they deserve to be hit by their husbands.  Choosing to emotionally terrorize women and force blame onto women for the sins of men is simply just another form of violent control.  And using religion and cultural ideology as rationales for the violence makes its impact all the more damaging.

So I find campaigns like the pink chaddis to be inspiring.  These are rallying cries that bring together women in order to overturn the manipulation and control.  The violence and bullying can easily continue controlling women unless an effort is made to take a stand.  These women are telling the world that they have a right to not be humiliated, guilt-tripped, or terrorized by ideologies.  They will not let fear permit the strong arm of violence to destroy their lives.

And unlike in ages past where women were bullied into silence, thankfully these days it is difficult for women’s voices not to be heard.  We just have to speak up

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