Feminism and Christianity

[Ephinie]

There has been some discussion in other threads about feminism, but I thought it would be nice to have a thread dedicated specifically to the discussion of it and its true ideals. I say "true ideals" because a lot of people, especially in the Christian community, have the misperception that Feminists are all a bunch of lesbian, man-hating baby-killers. This just isn't true.

So, what is real feminism, what does it mean, and how does it fit in with Christian values? Is being a feminist and being a Christian mutually exclusive? I don't think it is... but I'ma save my views until we get some people posting on here.

[broken.]

I'm so glad you brought this up... :)

Real feminism is the belief that the sexes are equal; no one gender should be treated better than or dominate the other. That whole man hating, baby killing lesbian thing is a stereotype and a gross misrepresentation of what feminism is. I'm a feminist, and I like men very much. :D And I'm definitely not a baby-killing lesbian.

If you look at Jesus' ministry, you can make a very valid case that Jesus was a feminist. The way he treated women was radical for his day; he lifted them up and treated them the same way he treated everyone else. An excellent example of this is Jesus' interaction with the Samaritan woman at the well (I think this story also makes a good argument against racism). Feminism and Christianity are not mutually exclusive. Actually, I think they go hand in hand; loving people as Christ loves us means treating everyone with the dignity they deserve and not looking down on them because of something like gender.

[Narborg]

Yes, I belive that both sexs are equal. They may be beter at some things than the other sex, but I belive that all humans are made in the image of God and should be teted like that, no mater hwat sex age race religon etc This is what feminiam at its best stands for, and I would say that I agree with that.

[Ephinie]

Hehe, I'm also a Feminist who is very fond of men. :p ;)

Charlotte, you should elaborate some about our feminist club on campus and stuff. Since I didn't go to any meetings last year, I'm not quite qualified...

[broken.]

Hehe, I'm also a Feminist who is very fond of men. :p ;)

Charlotte, you should elaborate some about our feminist club on campus and stuff. Since I didn't go to any meetings last year, I'm not quite qualified...

Yes, I know you're very fond of men... ;) :p

I'd be glad to elaborate on our school's feminist club. My school has a group called Equal in His Image; it was started by a good friend of mine. We get together once a week and discuss equality of the sexes in the church, women in ministry, and other gender related topics. I just started going last semester and it's been an enlightening experience for me, it helped me learn the real meaning of feminism.

[EveningStar]

Let's be honest. Most emerging movements react more than they act. In the French Revolution, the Catholic Church was seen as the force Kings used to hold on to their thrones and they banned religion during the Reign of Terror in the hopes of improving humanity. They did the same thing during the Russian Revolution because the Russian Orthodox Church supported the monarchy. The whole idea of feminists having to throw away "men's morals" rather than recasting them as "human morals" is an example of this sort of reactionary thinking. It is not necessary to throw away the whole Judeo/Christianic tradition and reject God to embrace Wicca or New Age in order to have equality among the sexes. God made equal men and women, and Jesus died for equal men and women. Human beings segregated themselves.

Let's be entirely honest, please. I once had a black neighbor that went to prison for selling drugs. Would it be fair for all new black children in the world to be punished for her crime? Then why should women be forever second class citizens because of something Eve did? Isn't that a little ridiculous?

In the entire Roman Catholic tradition there is only one human being that was freed of original sin, and that was a woman. Miriam, better known to you as the Virgin Mary. As Jesus was the second Adam who took death out of the world, Mary was, in a sense, the second Eve, the mother of free humanity.

[inkspot]

Very nice, ES! I never thought of Mary that way, although I do think quite a ot of her.

I agree with the gals, feminism doesn't mean women wanting to be men or do manly things. It means women wanting to be exactly what God called them to be, and achieve their full potential. Any man with a daughter, sister or sweetheart ought to be a feminist, too: and desire that the one he loves can be free to be exactly what god intends her to be.

[Danny]

Real feminism is the belief that the sexes are equal; no one gender should be treated better than or dominate the other. That whole man hating, baby killing lesbian thing is a stereotype and a gross misrepresentation of what feminism is. I'm a feminist, and I like men very much. :D And I'm definitely not a baby-killing lesbian.



A valid point. I too, could be considered a feminist in that I believe that women are equal to men in terms of intelligence, ability etc. But I can't help thinking that the word feminism implies not equality of the sexes, but instead presents a more favourable view of women over men. It does not imply balance.

In fact, if you look at the etymology of the word, it derives from words such as female, feminine i.e. woman-like. Surely this implies that someone who is a feminist looks to women as being superior to men.
Perhaps this is where all the 'man hating, baby killing lesbian thing' derives from.
I don't feel that the word feminist is appropriate.


But I also do not believe that it is entirely the fault of religion that women may be considered inferior to men. Even before the time of christianity women were considered as being inferior.

Consider this for a moment...

Could you imagine a time, in the near future, where Queens are superior to Kings, where women dominate politics and occupy the high magisteries, or where female sport has more media coverage than male sports?

Surely even a woman (and I'm not being sexist here nor patronising) would have difficulty in imagining such a scenario, at least in the forseeable future.

Or pehaps such views are exclusive to myself, I don't know.

[LifeMaiden]

There has been some discussion in other threads about feminism, but I thought it would be nice to have a thread dedicated specifically to the discussion of it and its true ideals. I say "true ideals" because a lot of people, especially in the Christian community, have the misperception that Feminists are all a bunch of lesbian, man-hating baby-killers. This just isn't true.

So, what is real feminism, what does it mean, and how does it fit in with Christian values? Is being a feminist and being a Christian mutually exclusive? I don't think it is... but I'ma save my views until we get some people posting on here.


I'll agree with what Broken said. Feminism has been given a bad name, and even non-religious or non Christian women are reluctant to admit that they are feminists, because of the negative connotation. But this is partly due to the flawed behavior of feminists in leadership roles, with its strange emphasis on ' women not needing men'. And hypocrisy such as symbolic burning of bras, 'not caring about the way you look,' etc, not wanting men to open doors and be gentlemen ( chivalry is condescending to a woman). What I used to argue in my women's history class, and especially at this small, private women's college I attended...was that if FEMINISM had to do with equality between men and women, while acknowledging men and women's DIFFERENCES ( feminism should not be about a woman 'acting like a man') then why should a woman be offended when a man opens a door for her, or stands up on the bus to offer his seat?

Sometimes I think because of this ' super woman independence' thing, it's left some younger men in my generation confused about what to do. Some guys have told me that their women friends and girlfriends get mad when they open doors " I CAN DO THAT MYSELF!!" while others have total hypocrisy " I took her out to dinner and she wanted to get out of the car herself and open the restaurant door, but told me she wouldn't pay for her half of the dinner because she believed in traditionalism."


Traditionally, feminists in the past have embraced slightly different ideals. Today and when it first came out 'women's lib' during the late 1960's and early 1970's, feminism was largely a radical notion, and many of the women who adhered to it believed they could liberate themselves symbolically by burning their bras, making abortion legal, and being far from conservative. I believe a Christian woman CAN be a feminist and still have traditional values, because they acknowledge the power behind the scenes that a woman can have...which has always been downplayed, but which men cannot do without, and appreciate a woman's role in this manner. Strangely though, take a look at Christian conservatives like Phyllis Schlafly, who tell women to stay at home with their kids, and yet, she's not with her kids, she's a successful, wealthy businesswoman who is anything BUT subservient and downplaying her role as an equal to a man.


And let's also not forget that many conservative or middle of the road Christian women are also reluctant to adhere to feminism because of it's views on abortion...though we all know here that Susan B Anthony was a feminist and pro-life, we also know that since pro-choice has been made a political card, that most liberal/Democrat/feminists will be for abortion being legal. As I stated when I became pro-life here, a TRUE feminist would protect the life of the unborn female and keep the unborn female's rights just as equal as one who stands and works in an office.


Basically to me it's about men and women being equal on several levels, but acknowledging their differences and appreciating these differences. I have no problem with men being men and belonging to men's clubs, for example. I believe in single sex education at private men and women's colleges. Women don't have to be brutal or coarse to still maintain their femininity. I won't walk behind a man, but I will not walk ahead of him either. I'm there to walk BESIDE him.

[EveningStar]

Great, IceMaiden! You go, girl! Uh...you go, person! ;)

[LifeMaiden]

And just for the record, my bras are too expensive to burn. I happen to like wearing them. I also do not go for the spelling of women as WYMYN or whatever. :D