God's Design for Women by Sharon James

The EQUIP20 Picks are still available for a limited time online via our ministry partner, Reformers Bookshop.

http://reformers.com.au/equip?aff=6

A percentage of the sales from books bought via the above link will support our CMS missionary, M.

Katie Stringer has gone into more detail for us on one of the picks she really enjoyed, God’s Design for Women.

As promised, in this third and final post, we’ll examine where feminism has left women today in terms of its original goals.  Has feminism built strong scaffolding for women that promotes and protects their human rights? Has it dismantled structures that actually did protect women and helped them to flourish? As you survey the landscape in James’ book, it’s clear that the big problem is always sin.  And the only solution to that will always be Christ.

The common moral framework of our times could be summarised “Do anything as long as it doesn’t harm anyone else.” But the problem with this ethos is: Whose definition of harm? And what if it harms yourself?  If we take the example of “safe sex”, what seemed simple - with the advent of accessible, reliable contraception via the invention of the pill from 1960 onward, and the push for sexual liberation of women via the feminist movement - had far reaching and complex consequences. This can be seen today in the current debates around hook-up culture, “consent” and the physical and psychological effects of multiple partners. James so clearly lays out evidence to explain that there’s no such thing as “safe sex” outside of a lifelong union of one man and one woman, the Bible’s original design (Genesis 2:23-25). So far we haven’t come up with anything close to as good as that.

If you don’t believe that, have a listen to this young woman’s experience. James quotes Jennifer Joyner writing in 2016, who at 18 years old, had already experienced a string of partners. Here she describes some of the betrayal she felt toward feminism , “I no longer see the “fun” in casual sex. I practiced it long enough to know that the risks are too high; the benefits so low. In what logical equation does gambling with my body, my future, my hopes and dreams, and the well-being of my future child ever make sense?” I was deeply moved by the pain in Joyner’s words. She had been sold an absolute lie. Here then was her solution: “Now in sex, I demand fair and reasonable risk management - only my husband, who cares about me, and who’d willingly father my child has qualified...I’ve learned that sex...echoes something far more worthwhile: a loving partnership of two people sharing everything.” (66) If you’d like to read the rest of Joyner’s article you can find it here: https://verilymag.com/2016/02/hookup-culture-sex-feminism-sexual-freedom 

James helpfully includes broad discussion on sin to show that sin is in fact the source of female oppression, not the Bible’s messaging. Only the Bible offers a clear explanation for the problem of subjugation and exploitation: We are all descendants of Adam, and all bare the mark of that original propensity to sin (Romans 5:12). The only solution for sin is rebirth into a living hope. That rebirth comes via a gift, God’s grace to us in the person and work of Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:15) Trusting in Him is the only way out of this mess. Our own attempts at solving the problem of female subjugation have, from the second wave on, created more mess.

Feminism sought to provide equality and liberation for women, and in some areas has made considerable progress toward those goals on their terms. However, James writes, “worldwide, many cultures still regard women as second class citizens. Meanwhile in the West, the claim that “binary is bad” is gaining ground. The category ‘woman’ is ceasing to mean anything definite at all. In the midst of injustice and confusion, God’s Word points to the glory of the original creation design.” (83)

My own mother was part of consciousness-raising groups during the second wave of feminism, and it’s fascinating to listen to her stories. She would now not identify as a feminist. When my own daughters, ten and thirteen ask me if I’m a feminist I have to answer, “It’s complicated. It depends what you mean by the word ‘feminist’.”  I continue thinking it through in my head, “Do I believe that God has made women of equal value to men? Absolutely, Genesis 1:27 shows us that men and women have been created in God’s image. That’s so deeply special, and the concept of human rights flows from that. Does my heart break for the way that patriarchal structures have been used to push women down? Yes, absolutely, but then patriarchy also offers safety and security that protect women too, as James draws out in her book. I’m grateful to have had loving and responsible parents who spoke plainly about sex, motherhood and work and to be married to a man who seeks to be a godly husband and Father. I’m also grateful for many of the gains that have been made as a result of first and second wave feminism, such as the right to vote, greater access to education and improved career prospects for women. And yet I’m sad for the ways successive waves of feminism have left my daughters so unprotected, so exposed in a world that no longer values marriage and family and mothering. I’m sad that God’s high view of singleness and marriage is ridiculed.  I’m sad they must negotiate life in a world where gender distinction is blurred, or regarded as unimportant, and that an individualistic and sex saturated culture means any screen click can take them to a place they shouldn’t go. It’s complicated.”

After reading this book I can now see that much of the highly sexualised world we live in and the consequences we must live with are a direct result of second and third wave feminism. This history feels a little lost in the loud and painful stories of abuse rightly coming out into the light through the #MeToo movement. It should come as no surprise then that the fourth wave has been criticised by some, and why some women with a longer memory are reluctant to attach themselves to a movement that now seems to want to roll back some of the sexual freedoms they fought so hard for during the second and third waves. 

Reading this book I don’t think I could accurately attach myself to the word ‘feminist’ as it stands in its current iteration, knowing the historical backdrop and how it has morphed away from its former goals.  Instead James has affirmed for me that I’m a Christian woman who loves women and wants to champion God’s view of women and men, their equality and their significant differences, differences that are meant to work together in harmony. I want to do this in my teaching, leading and parenting, as well as in my marriage, and in every conversation, because the value God places on women is so high and his ways are really good.

Meet Katie Stringer

Katie has found new things to love in this tricky year! Covid 19 has caused her to fall in love with winter swimming and online Bible Study.  She is really looking forward to being back in the classroom in Term 3 teaching SRE at two Inner West high schools. She is studying at Moore College.