Many of us recall the #metoo movement of 2017. Women all over the globe chimed in to social media to declare they had been victims of sexual harassment and/or assault. Some men participated also. Has anything changed since the movement started?
I just read the 2024 MeToo Research report released by Tulane University's Newcomb Institute. While there have been some improvements in workplace accountability programs and a few legislative advances to protect victims, overall, no, things haven't improved. The report found very similar numbers as were prevalent in 2017: 78% of women have been victims of verbal sexual harassment; 59% of women have been victims of physically aggressive sexual harassment; 50% of women have been victims of sexual coercion or threats; and 27% have been victims of sexual assault. These rates are even higher among Hispanic women and women with disabilities.
More women than men live in poverty in the U.S. More than 1 in 10 women live in poverty, including 1 in 3 single mothers and 3 in 5 of elderly women. Statistics are even higher for women of color. Women also make up about 30% of the homeless population. Poverty puts women at even fewer advantages and increases their vulnerability while limiting their choices.
The state of women in the workplace hasn't improved much, either. Women make up 42% of the global workforce, but only 31.7% of leadership positions. Women account for only 28% of STEM jobs, and are also underrepresented in the fields of technology, information, and media. According to the World Economic Forum, it will take 134 years to close the gender gap and achieve gender parity between men and women.
And of course, we are all aware that there are no female chairs of committees in the newly instated Congress. We have a sexual offender recently elected as our next president, and more than one proposed cabinet member with a sketchy history towards women.
Factors contributing to our current state are many but include societal norms and systems which are unwelcoming to women, as well as blocks in access to equal education and employment opportunities. In other words, patriarchal systems built by men for men and attitudes regarding women's "place" or potential greatly stand in our way.
The numbers are not much better within the church. Kristin Kobe Du Mex' recent documentary, "For Our Daughters", highlighted the number of unreported or underreported egregious sexual assaults and harassment which have occurred within the church. Purity culture, women barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen, and submission to men - even abusive men - is to this day very commonly taught throughout the conservative church.
The two largest Christian denominations - Roman Catholic and Southern Baptist - do not ordain women, among others. Women account for about 20-27% of the clergy across denominations in the US, which is a huge increase from 2.5% in the 1960s, but still falls short. While in some schools up to 50% of MDiv students (like me) are women, only 25% of seminary faculty are women, and only about 11% of seminary presidents are women. These numbers decrease dramatically when you look at women of color.
This is an issue we should care about. We should care because God cares. Because our God is a God of justice who created both men and women in His image. As image-bearers, all are due human rights and dignity. Jesus and even Paul spoke of all the church - not just the men - utilizing their God-given gifts to spread the Gospel and build the Kingdom. Yet, for centuries, we have believed the lies of patriarchy and privilege.
I recently read Lucy Peppiatt's new book, "Discovering Scripture's Vision for Women". In this book, she dares to challenge traditional and patriarchal readings of the Bible and present an alternative view, a view of women laboring alongside men in the work of the Kingdom. When critics of women in ministry say we are adding liberalism to the church, they fail to recognize that women are only currently limited in roles of church leadership because patriarchy was added to the church! Peppiatt is the latest of voices rising to show us keeping women out of the pulpit was never God's intention.
The Bible "does not, in fact, endorse male predominance but instead tells the story of a God who challenges and subverts the rule and domination of men in many and varied ways" (1). Scripture has often been (mis-)used to justify patriarchal and hierarchical structures within the church. Peppiatt challenges these interpretations by looking at the context of the verses most often used to subjugate women and challenging them from a historical viewpoint.
For example, the creation story is often used as a means for elevating the position of man over woman. I heard a pastor say once from the pulpit, "Genesis 2 clearly shows that women were made inferior to men." Peppiatt vehemently disagrees. She notes how Genesis 1 states both male and female were made in the image of God - showing their equal worth and value. Also, though woman was taken out of man, flesh of his flesh, the Savior of the world would come from woman - flesh of her flesh, turning the narrative around. The term used for Eve is not so much "helper" as in servant but "helper" as in partner, giving it more of a position of equality. In other books on this topic, it has been noted that the Holy Spirit receives the same name of "helper" in the Old Testament, and surely we don't see the Holy Spirit as servile or inferior to men!
Though Paul is often thought of as hating women, it should be noted that Paul respected and worked with women as disciples, deacons, head of home churches, patrons, preachers, teachers, and prophets. We gloss over them because we read the Bible the way we've been taught it - through a male-centric lens. We must go back and learn their names, learn their stories, and recognize their contributions. Women like Phoebe, Junia, Chloe, Lydia, Priscilla, and others - even that of Mary... both Marys!
Understanding difficult New Testament texts comes down to understanding the culture of the time. In the Greco-Roman culture, men were seen as heads of the household and everyone in their home were inferior and subservient to their total and complete leadership. This included women, but also children, servants, and slaves. If anyone stepped out of line, so to speak, it was in the man's rights to "discipline" them however he saw fit. While Paul used this framework as a metaphor to talk about Christ's Lordship over the church, he also likely blew their minds when he challenged their frame of reference by demanding husbands love their wives as Christ loves us. He demanded fidelity and loyalty from husbands, something the Greco-Roman culture never required. He demanded fathers not exasperate their children. All of these commands would have been incredibly counter-cultural and were designed to protect women and the most vulnerable within those systems.
Peppiatt writes, "The New Testament writers were radically redefining the role of the man in Christian marriage in order to restore dignity, status, and protection to the woman in a harsh and unequal world." (109)
Her conclusion is that the Bible contains the "seeds" of revolution. The seeds to "subvert cultural expectations" and elevate the status of women.
If we want to. If we believe it's important.
If the church - which has often been the lead weight holding women back - were to rise and elevate women, this would make an incredible difference in our culture and even in our world.
It is time for women's voices to be heard and respected. It is time for women to be allowed to use their God-given gifts. Their gifts, given to them, for a time such as this.
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