The new wave of feminism

Karen Soole on the mistakes of the past and the biblical way forward

Injustice against women is in the news.

Stories of abuse have been hard to ignore. It is not that the abuse of women is on the rise, sadly the world has been like this since the Fall, but that the media are tapping into a zeitgeist that is increasingly vocal about women’s rights.

Earlier this year, 17-year-old Fahma Mohamed led a campaign to ensure that teachers and parents were informed of the horrors of female genital mutilation. At 16, Jinan Younis started a feminist society at her school in response to verbal sexual harassment on the streets and is now active in a campaign for feminist groups to be formed in schools across the country .

These two girls represent a wave of protest that is building up into a crescendo that is being titled ‘the fourth wave of feminism’. #Everydaysexism now has 142,000 followers and receives huge response online with threads such as #grabbed, as women share their experiences of inappropriate sexual encounters and personal violations. Feminism is trendy once more and on the rise in our universities: ‘the number of full-time women’s officers in student unions almost doubled in the last year’.

Disney and women

This vocal generation of girls is regularly achieving better grades at GCSEs and A-levels than boys and are more likely to attend university than their male counterparts. They have been told that the world is their oyster. They grew up with Hermione Granger in Harry Potter, Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games trilogy and Tris Prior in Divergent. Even Disney has given them action heroines, in films such as Brave and Frozen (although none of these challenged the stereotypical image of female beauty). When these girls in their teenage years find themselves faced with sexual harassment and worse, they are angry and frustrated at inequality that they hadn’t quite expected. But as Kira Cochrane says: ‘One obvious outcome of being brought up to believe you’re equal is that you’re both very angry when you encounter misogyny but also confident in your ability to tackle it’.

What do women want?

So what do these vocal young women really want? More than the opportunity to do the same as men: the heartfelt cry of young women isn’t about the right to be a doctor, a plumber or mechanic, it is much deeper and more significant than surface equality – at its core it is a desire for respect, dignity and worth. The earlier generation of women involved in feminism made a mistake. They wanted what men had, but being the same does not bring equality, being the same is not what matters.

We need to think through a biblical response to the issues that are troubling our young women. There is much to say.

Being the same?

Being the same was not what mattered to Christ. He was equal with God, but he had a unique task. Men and women are equal – we are equally made in the image of God (Genesis 1.27). This does not mean we are the same, but it does mean we have equal value and worth. Jesus died for both men and women so that in him both are brought into his family and both can be called sons of God (Galatians 3.26-28, Hebrews 2.10-12).

What incredible worth Jesus gives to people! Men and women made in the image of God, rescued to become part of his family. To know that my value comes from Christ is truly liberating! He says of his family: ‘Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers’.

Jesus and women

Knowing this does not change the fact that many men do not respect women or give them any honour, but the contrast is stark. Jesus the greatest man treats men and women equally and has given himself so that we may be brought into his family. What honour he bestows on us. Christian women know that their dignity and worth comes from their creator and rescuer. We do not need to strive to be the same as men in order to achieve this. We are the same as men – equal in status, equally in need of being rescued with the equal offer of a relationship with God as our Father because Jesus gave up his rights for us.

The gospel is the answer

I believe passionately that men and women are equal and because of this I want to fight against oppression of women too, but I know that radical feminism isn’t the answer. However, it can sound glib to say the gospel is the answer, especially when the debates about the role of women in the church rage and so many accuse Christians of an alternative form of oppression, with patriarchy in particular being singled out as evil.

Yet I know the gospel is the one place that offers reconciliation between men and women. I know the joy of being loved by God our Father in Christ. I know the confidence and freedom that comes from submitting to a godly husband who loves me and encourages me to grow. As Margaret Kostenberger says: ‘Christian wives should experience liberation from the dominant, unloving, abusive exercise of their husband’s authority (Genesis 3.16), a form of “rule” that in the Bible is contrasted with the loving, sacrificial exercise of the husband’s servant leadership in Christ’ (Ephesians 5.25-28).

Christ’s submission

Submission to a husband and submission to your shepherd/pastor is not something that an unbeliever will ever think is a good idea. In fact I also know many Christian women who really struggle with this and the only thing that enables them to accept it is their relationship with Christ. It is when we rejoice in Christ’s submission to the Father that it becomes possible to value its place in our homes and churches.

This is anathema to feminists who view this as a form of oppression because they have never seen it lived out in practice. Unfortunately often in our churches we have at times only reinforced stereotypes of masculinity and femininity, instead of witnessing to transformed relationships in Christ. How can those of us who know the experience of liberation in marriage witness to the power of the gospel in our relationships? Something of how we live out these relationships should be radically different and point to the reality of our relationship with Christ.

Theological arguments, which try and engage reason alone, will not persuade women in our culture ever to think that submitting to a husband is a good thing – there is too much baggage, too much history, and too much water under the bridge. We need to live out our unity in Christ so that the world sees that we really do value men and women equally. Our churches need to make sure that women are seen to be valued as full and equal participants of kingdom work, as members of the body of Christ, and this does not mean they just do the catering and washing up. We must value women’s ministry.

Speaking out

So how do we help vulnerable, hurting women? We need to witness to the possibility of the restoration of relationships in Christ. We need to show women the huge value that they have in God’s eyes. We need to speak out against the abuse of women in our society and not just argue about roles in church. We need to be active in reaching out with the gospel through women’s ministries and not at any time give off the impression that somehow ministry to ‘ladies’ is second best and unimportant. We need to help a generation of troubled young women to understand the reality of the Fall and that their only hope is to be found in Christ.