The F Word

You might have said these words, and if not, you’ve probably heard them: ‘I’m not a feminist, but …’ We usually say it cos we don’t want to come across as a man-hating, mouthy kinda gal. And we would like a boyfriend one day. But what does ‘feminism’ really mean?

The word ‘feminism’ is a bit like the word ‘Christian’—whenever you describe yourself this way, people have a zillion diff erent assumptions about what it means. Some people think feminism began during the hippie era, when women burned their bras—how much this actually happened is debatable, but the point is, women stopped caring what guys thought and personal hygiene standards slipped.

Others think that feminists are women that don’t like guys. I recently came across a book called Are Men Obsolete?, where feminist author Maureen Dowd quipped, ‘Men are so last century.’ Burn.

Then there are feminists with chips on their shoulders. Feminists with short hair. Feminists with long hair. Feminists who are also vegetarians. Feminists who express themselves through dance. Feminists who love Jesus. Hey, what was that last one?

The first feminist

Many top Bible scholars believe that the first known feminist was the apostle Paul in the Bible. He made this feminist statement: ‘There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus’ (Galatians 3:28).

Here, Paul recognises the freedom we all experience when we treat everyone with respect and equality. He was arguably the first to state that everyone is of equal worth—and the reason for this is Christ. The worth of every individual is a deeply and profoundly Christian belief.

It’s possible that Paul couldn’t have imagined a world where slavery was outlawed, or where women were allowed an education. But the powerful words that he wrote paved the way for radical changes in society.

Feminism, in its purest form, is nothing more that the belief that women are equal to men. If you believe that, then you’re a feminist. More importantly, you’re living out the teachings and example of Christ.

Why girls should vote

‘Feminism is the radical notion that women are people,’ said British suffragist and journalist Rebecca West. Some of the most significant people in the modern feminist movement were what was termed ‘suffragettes’—a term of derision for women fighting for the right to vote. New Zealand's own, much-loved heroine Kate Shepherd was a leading light in helping New Zealand become the fi rst country in the world to give women the vote. We’re pretty proud of the fact—and rightly so.

But what is not so commonly known is that Kate didn’t set out to be a feminist, nor did she set out to win the vote for women. Kate was an ardent member of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), which was the first mass organisation among women devoted to social reform based on Christian beliefs.

It sounds a lot like The Salvation Army: Christianity with its sleeves rolled up. And like the Army, one of the key ways that these women wanted to see society reformed was in changing our cultural dependency on alcohol. But they quickly realised they weren’t going to make any difference to society unless they were able to help change laws. And they couldn’t change laws unless they were able to vote.

Kate’s brand of feminism was deeply grounded in Christianity. (By the way, that’s why, if you’re old enough this year, make sure you do your research on who to vote for and get yourself down to that polling booth. Voting is a key way that we get to have a say in what our society looks like!)

Mean girls

Our Salvation Army co-founder Catherine Booth was another ardent member of the temperance movement, and also had to fight for the right to teach Christian truths. The important role of women in leadership is part of the Army’s cultural heritage, which has blessed both men and women in our movement.

How did feminism get such a bad name? Like any good thing, the evil forces in our world provide a distortion of God’s truth. Feminism is essentially good and right, but some aspects have concentrated on beliefs that devalue men. Or that try and mould women into men. In fact, some things have been said about men that are downright mean. Yet, if we go back to Paul’s words, we realise again that men and women are of equal worth—so seeing men as inferior is no better than seeing women as inferior. This is just swapping one sexism for another.

The goal of Paul’s message was freedom in Christ—and that means the beautiful, joyous discovery of who God made you to be. Whether you’re a ‘girlie girl’ or a ‘tomboy’, go for it, knowing that you are of equal value and God made your unique characteristics. If you’re a metro kinda guy, express yourself, fulla. If you’re a proper bloke, on ya!

The bottom line is: if we know God loves who we are, and that we’re of equal worth to anyone, we don’t need to diminish anyone else to prove our own worth.

But … err … there’s one more thing

I know what you’re thinking (cos I’m a girl and I’ve been there): if I get all femmy on it, will any guys like me? There’s a bit of a thing at the moment that we girls have to be intelligent and self-reliant. But we also need to be into baking and florals. And we need to not be intimidating. And we should eat pizza and anything we want, but not get fat. Oh, and we should be good with kids, but not clucky.

You know what, all these things are expectations put on us by outside influences (including Christian culture, at times)—but they are not put on to us by God. Now that I’m an old married woman, let me share a little of what I’ve discovered: if a guy is going to like you, he’s just going to like you for who you are. If you’re into baking, he’s going to like that because he likes you. If you’re ‘one of the guys’, he’ll like that, cos he likes you.

Christ has set us free from having to strive to be anything other than what he made us to be. The world is full of striving, but God calls us to rest in him.

If we understand this, we’re not going to scare any guys off because we have the intelligence to realise that we are their equal. We’re also not going to have anything to prove, so we don’t need to be arrogant in our beliefs. We just need to be ourselves.

Also, any guy who’s worth it will realise that he is blessed if he gives you the freedom to be everything God made you to be. Just like you are blessed by his strength and intelligence and ability to throw a ball (okay, Valerie Adams can also throw a ball, but you get my point!)

Guys are a blessing to us. We are a blessing to them. Understanding that is sometimes called feminism. But it’s also called freedom in Christ.

PS ... don’t be that girl!

You know when a guy opens the door for you or picks up your diary that you dropped (and embarrassing, it’s got ‘Mrs Gosling’ written all over it), it makes us girls swoon, right? Then there are some girls that are like, ‘I don’t need a guy to do that for me.’ Don’t be that girl. Being chivalrous is a mark of respect and honour. When you really understand your value, you can allow others to help you without seeing it as a sign of weakness. The guy is trying to be kind, so simply be kind back.

... don’t be that guy!

You know when you make a sexist joke and then some girl gets riled up, and you’re like, ‘Psyche! I was just winding you up.’ Don’t be that guy. Girls are allowed to get annoyed about sexist jokes, the way we would be about racist or homophobic jokes—it’s called ‘righteous anger’. It doesn’t mean you or your girl mates have to take yourselves too seriously, just show some respect.
 

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by Ingrid Barratt | (c) 'War Cry' magazine, 6 September 2014, pp20-21.
You can read 'War Cry' at your nearest Salvation Army church or centre, or subscribe through Salvationist Resources.