Chauvinism, Feminism & Bible
Introduction:
Recently there has been a pair of books published by John Eldredge. One is directed at men, Wild at heart (2001) and one written with his wife Stasi for women, Captivating (2005). These books encourage men to act like men and for women to encourage them to do so and vice versa, for women to act feminine, and for men to allow them to. The popularity of these two books, and others like them, show a shift in the attitudes of the culture. It is shifting from a feminist attitude of women can do anything men can do to something like well there are some things that men are wired to do and we should let them do it. I have grown up in a chauvinistic household and there have always been set womens jobs like the cooking, cleaning and washing and so my first encounter with the feminist movement, aside from seeing the stickers plastered on one of my primary school classrooms that said women can do anything which caused an unfortunate reaction when I went home and repeated it, was with one of my friends relationships with her husband. It was a shock to see her sitting down doing nothing whilst he was doing the house work! Whilst this probably would not be seen as feminist thinking, for me it was because it was the exact opposite of how I was brought up.
What leads a person to hold these attitudes?
There are many reasons why a person may have a chauvinistic or feminist attitude. It could be a result of their upbringing. Theorists like Erikson argue that our family lives influence our attitudes. As they have been brought up with those attitudes and that is all that they have known, this can cause them to adapt the same attitudes of their parents. The other possibility is that they can rebel and go in the opposite direction. For example a girl brought up in a chauvinist household may become a feminist as a reaction to this upbringing. The church can also play a role in developing these attitudes especially when dealing with leadership roles.
Chauvinism:
The Roman Catholic Church believes that every action of Christ was deliberate and as such, when viewing leadership, they consider the fact that none of the disciples were women.
Jesus did not call any women to become part of the Twelve. If he acted this way, it was not in order to conform to the customs of his time, for his
CS 300: Christian Spirituality & Philosophy
Therefore based on that statement, they see that women should not be in leadership. It is the use of ideas such as these and verses such as Ephesians 5:22-23 that can cause chauvinistic attitudes. Too often verses are pulled out of context and used to justify an attitude that they were never intended to in the first place.
attitude to wards women was quite different from that of his milieu, and he deliberately and courageously broke with it (Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, in Bettenson, 1999, p. 391)
Feminism:
Feminism as a movement came into being as a counteraction of chauvinism. Within the church, it is part of the liberation theology. Russel sees this theology as embracing the differences that women bring to the church. When difference is valued and respected, those who have found themselves marginal to church or society begin to discover their own worth as human beings (Russel, 1999, p.394).
Conclusion:
Neither chauvinism nor feminism are correct in their thinking. The passages given: John 15:9-14; 17:23; and Romans 5:5 do not distinguish between male and female. In Genesis, its says that God created male and female in his image, not just male or female, both. Both men and women have aspects of the image of God within them and thus should be treated with respect. The church should be the perfect place to help correct these attitudes, however, rarely are there any sermons given on this subject. Russel makes the comment that feminists want to change the attitude within the church from authority as domination to authority as partnership (p.393). Perhaps it should be addressed to both chauvinists and feminists, that there needs to be an understanding of partnership and respect between the genders.
Tanya Jackson
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CS 300: Christian Spirituality & Philosophy
Reference:
Eldredge, J. (2001). Wild at Heart. Nashville, TN: Nelson Books. Eldredge, J & Eldredge, S. (2005). Captivating. Nashville, TN: Nelson Books. Russel, L. M. (1985). Feminist Interpretation of the Bible. In Bettenson, H & Maunder, C. (1999). Documents of the Christian Church, 3rd Ed. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. Sacred congregation for the Doctrine of Faith. (1976). Inter Insignories, in Bettenson, H & Maunder, C. (1999). Documents of the Christian Church, 3rd Ed. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Tanya Jackson
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