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One thing that a lot of women in my church have been discussing and wrestling has been feminism, basically the concept of women taking on leadership roles, being independent of and looking down at men, and not being cooped up at home as a traditional stay at home mother.
I believe that God created women as unique from men, gave them different skills so that the two compliment each other for the work needing done. A woman was designed as a helper while man a strong protector and provider. Are women strong, yes. But it different ways from men. Strong in compassion. Strong in wisdom, as the Lord blesses. Possibly strong physically too but men have greater potential in that area. Don’t be mistaken; women aren’t quiet wasted-potential homebodies. The godly women of the Bible deny that. The perfect wife in Proverbs 31 was quite the entrepreneur, Esther was used by God to save her people, Ruth showed bold leadership, Mary’s submission as the Lord’s servant brought Jesus into the world!
I am a writer. My main characters are usually girls or women. I think that stories of adventures are the most interesting to write and read, so I usually have a woman character who has an adventure.
There are so many stories out there in the world sneaking in with themes of main character women being top leaders, strong and independent, and better than men.
I want to follow the Biblical order that God designed with submissive women who find joy in serving alongside their husbands or fathers as helpers, bearing loads and giving counsel and leading out as needed. (And also godly men who are great leaders, fathers, and love their women like Jesus and the church.)
I was wondering if any of you had ever thought about this or noticed this. Thoughts?
@acancello @esther-c @mineralizedwritings @freedomwriter76 @kyronthearcanin @elanor @felicity @starshiness @euodia-vision @everyone else
I agree with you! I’ve seen this before, and it’s really sad. I think everyone chooses a different path in life, and we need to respect that, even if it’s a role society see’s as lowly. My mom was looked down upon because she was a stay at home mom. I don’t believe that is every women’s calling is to be a stay at home mom, or to even be a mom, but I benefited immensely from that. I have a pretty close relationship with my mom, and if she was always as work I would not have had that to the same extent. I don’t have a problem with independent/leading women (With the exception of spiritual leadership over men, I believe that men are the spiritual leaders and seeing a women preach always puts me off) but I do have a problem with women in leadership being promoted more than men, or getting things simply because they are some sort of a trailblazer. Whoever is most skilled for the position and most respectful of others deserves the position imo. I always try to show relationships in my book with girls and guys being on even levels with eachother, both learning from one another. If the couple is married, obviously thee wife submits to her husband, but that doesn’t mean her opinion is any less. It’s really sad to me that people think they are reducing sexism by some of these things, but are inadvertently putting down women in traditional roles.
Separate thing here, but I’ve always felt it seems so hard for singles in church environments. Not everyone gets married, and some have to wait a long time for the right one God has for them. Thanks for the awesome topic!
"And so I left this world just as I had entered it. Confused."
Yes!!! My family talks a lot about this as we see overwhelming amounts of this in our culture. There is so much of this in our culture, especially in movies. My family likes to use the example of Marvel. Black Widow is depicted as a physically strong fighter that can beat the crap out of many men. No matter how much training someone receives this isn’t how God created women. Realistically, a strong man shouldn’t be able to defeat Black Widow. Another example of this is in The Rings of Power TV show. They really tried to depict women as strong, heroes. This wasn’t as unrealistic as some of the MCU stuff, but it was easy to see that they were trying to communicate something with the female characters being better leaders and fighters than a lot of the males.
Our current culture which has made life very easy with our technology advancements has made the life of being a mom and wife very ‘unexciting’. Throughout history, women were very strong and active as they had to acquire/make food, wash clothes, tend to children, etc. Now, our world doesn’t find much honor in being a mom and wife as you can easily pop a meal in the oven, buy food at the grocery store, send your kids off to school, clean the house with a vacuum, etc., etc. If we look at a women through this lens, then yes, there isn’t much honor in this. BUT if we strive to be the women depicted in Proverbs 31, then there is MUCH honor in being a wife and mom.
I could say A LOT more, but yes, I agree with everything you said!
I rolled the log over and underneath was a tiny little stick and I was like, "That log had a child
I totally agree with what y’all are saying. I believe that we are all created equal, but we are created uniquely. God created males and females differently on purpose. Yet neither is more important than the other.
Culture views strong women as emotionally and physically strong and praises them for that. But the Bible shows many examples of strong women (Deborah, Esther, Ruth, Mary, etc.) and praises them for fearing the Lord. Proverbs 31:30 says “Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.” It’s all about the heart, not the outward appearance or outward abilities. 1 Samuel 16:7b says, “For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
Strong women are those who put their trust in God and rely on His strength rather than their own. I’m not against women doing jobs that used to be what only men did (construction, military, political offices, etc.), there’s nothing wrong with that, but we can’t forget how amazing our stay-at-home moms are as well. They do so many things for their family every day. They’re pretty awesome. 😉 ❤️
There are a lot of books out there that show strong women as “trailblazers” and those who are going against the norm. But my favorite female characters, are the ones who are truly strong. Like Nia in the Wingfeather Saga. She is a strong mother who loves her family and is fiercely loyal, despite having flaws. Leeli, her daughter, is also a strong female character who, even though she’s young, has a courageous heart and shows compassion to all.
When we as Christian writers write female characters (and any character or any story at all), we have to make sure we’re displaying themes that challenge the readers worldview instead of pushing agendas, trying to force your thinking down the readers’ throats.
I love seeing biblically strong women in fiction. And I hope that I can write my female characters the same way. 😊
Write what should not be forgotten. — Isabel Allende
Yes I have definitely noticed this!! Although in my writing I guess I don’t struggle as much because my fantasy world situations are a lot different than on earth… But I do keep in mind the separate roles. The men are all generally protectors, etc… And women are strong in their own way. Most I don’t make as strong in the fighting area, but there have been a couple that are. Every person has their own flaws, and so does every character.
I’m trying to think up more to say… Sry I’m really tired rn XD. Anyway, yes, I’ve seen feminism become a thing even among Christians, and I think it goes against God’s plan. No one gender is better or worse than the other, and no race is better or worse than another. So I guess that’s all I have for now lol.
Follow your heart, but take your brain with you.
Excellent discussion topic! I agree wholeheartedly with what you and everyone else has said on here, and while I have nothing more to add, let me just say– that was refreshing to read 😅. Hearing these words from people who are relatively close to me in age is so rare!! So many of this generation (even in Christian circles) all about the “strong, independent woman” image, without realizing that they’re taking the concepts of strength and independent further than they were ever intended to. So yeah, so glad to see that there are others of the same mind as I am and that we are in agreement in this area 🙂
I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.
Yes! I agree @starshiness. Yeah, it’s been so encouraging to me too seeing all of your comments. Tell you what, I’m so thankful to be in this group of like-minded Christian writers.
Hey, would you all hold me accountable in whatever characters I write so that I write godly characters? My story is only the first chapter so far, but, Lord willing, it’ll be developed quite farther. And there’ll be more characters, fo sho.
@janellebelovedpig @starshiness
Sorry it took me so long to respond, ive been super busy. But I just wanted to pop on and tell you guys, I agree with you all. Men and women are both different from each other in a good way, like Janelle said “I believe that God created women as unique from men, gave them different skills so that the two compliment each other for the work needing done.” That is perfectly said 🙂
"Would you kindly...?"
@janellebelovedpig Ofc girl! I trust you’ll do the same for me 😉 That’s what this community is here for, to build each other up and provide constructive criticism should the need arise 😊
I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.
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