USA: Globes protest

The Golden Globes is normally a self-congratulatory affair: laughably long thank-yous; controversy over the length of a designer dress; scandal about who got which awards…

It is hard for any of us not in the entertainment world to take this seriously, despite the column inches in our newspapers. But this year’s event on 7 January was different. Nearly all the women wore black (yes, still designer and still often revealing), which emphasised their solidarity and seriousness; men and women made comments about gender equality, whether in terms of pay or distribution of awards and Oprah Winfrey made a speech which some say marks her out as a potential presidential candidate.

Tempted to be cynical

It is easy to be a bit cynical at this point. How surprised should we be that the industry which churns out films like 50 Shades of Grey year after year has a problem with the exploitation of women? Perhaps this is just another example of the chameleon cinema making the most out of a cultural moment.

Whatever Winfrey’s aspirations, it is clear that the allegations against Harvey Weinstein and the ensuing exposure of others has come at a significant time and brought about this celebrity protest against relativism and complacency. The #MeToo and Time’s Up social media movements are just the most recent and most publicised elements of the new feminist movement (see earlier articles about #everydaysexism). Whilst the entertainment industry may seem shallow and vainglorious, it directs the attitudes of many. This Golden Globes event could be the pivotal cultural moment to bring permanent change.

Civil rights language

The language of Winfrey’s speech deliberately referenced the American civil rights movement, with its mention of ‘speaking truth to power’, ‘a brighter morning’, ‘a new day’, the call to ‘overcome’ and the comfort that truth ‘goes marching on’.

But much of this language, we know, is borrowed from the Bible and Christian culture. The civil rights movement had many roots in the churches, and took many of its ideals from Scripture. The church has been a leader for female education, a champion for the improvement of working conditions for women and the legal protection of women, as well as a place of comfort, safety and healing for many. Often, though, it has been associated with the ‘brutally powerful men’ described by Winfrey, who have ‘broken’ women and culture. The Handmaid’s Tale which (in its TV adaption) did so well at the awards ceremony, is a dystopian fiction expressing the feminist conviction that religion cruelly oppresses women.

Women’s voices

And this has some truth. I know of churches where the woman’s voice is denied, even when that voice is complaining of sexual abuse within the leadership. Brothers and sisters, this should not be. The church should be the place where true freedom is found, as mutual submission, self-giving and love are practiced.

Now, more than ever, we need to act with justice, mercy and the clarity of truth, reclaiming our historical role as protector of the oppressed – because the Bible’s truth about men and women is far more liberating than Oprah Winfrey’s vague vision of human flourishing.