TRUE WOMAN 101: PART 6: HEAR ME ROAR Have You Been Affected?

Please click here and listen to this episode of Revive our Hearts with Nancy Leigh DeMoss and guests.

My reaction to the program:  

The songs of the seventies referred to in the program Revive our Hearts, fueled the movement of women wanting to be heard, treated fairly, equally and with respect.  I am women let me roar in numbers too big to ignore, sang Helen Ready.  Aretha Franklin sang, “R-E-S-P-E-C-T”.  There were others that had catchy tunes, were well played over the radio waves and performed on entertainment programs.  I remember hearing them on WORG, Orangeburg’s leading radio station.  I sang the songs not really paying attention at first to the message.  It wasn't until I began to see the performers on television singing with great expression as if trying to convince the world of the message.

I didn't realize then what all the noise was all about but as I grew older and paid more attention to the news and current events, I saw the impact of those messages.  Growing up in the bible belt of the South one is very much aware of manners and expectations in society.  Men in my family opened doors for women, they allowed women to go ahead of them in lines, gave up seats for women, carried umbrellas for them and insured they were safe.  Women in my family, more so in my parents’ generation, went to college, earned degrees, worked outside of the home and raised families. 

I believe that women should receive equal pay for equal work.  I believe women should receive the same insurance packages and investment options from their employers as their male counterparts.  Those issues along with the right to vote, own property and others fought for by the Suffragettes were all needed.  I don’t think any woman who decides to exchange her degree(s) for time as an ‘at home mom’ should be demeaned or feel as if she has made the wrong choice.  If it’s all about women’s right to choose, then her choice to stay at home should be respected.

No woman should feel forced to agree with the extreme liberal components of the feminist movement. As women we should not feel pressured to choose between the life of an unborn child in the womb over employment, finances, position, politics, or anything that may confront us.  We should always choose the life of our own child over the selfish ambition of others, over fear, over the opinion of others. 

Rebecca Walker, daughter of author and feminist Alice Walker

In this article, How My Mother's Fanatical Views Tore Us Apart  we can read the response of Rebecca Walker toward her mother’s ‘radical feminist ideology’.     Women like Alice Walker are admired and often revered by feminist for their views regarding women’s rights.  They are seen as experts in a field that basically says, ‘whatever you want as a woman is alright’.  Because after all you've been kept down and put upon so long, it’s about time you get what you deserve, and you can decide what that is by the way. Because as Virginia Slims slogan goes, ‘you've come a long way, baby’.   We've come a long way but what have we gained, equal access to an education, jobs, wages, benefits, and healthcare?  Maybe so but especially with the choice for healthcare the ‘right to choose’ with abortion, have we not literally thrown the baby out with the bathwater? 

There is always much more that can be written on this subject.  In all things we must trust God who fashioned us to know what is best.  He is the one with all knowledge, who loves us with an everlasting love.  His counsel is good for every generation and never, ever errs.  God is for women.  Jesus included women in his inner circle, made time for women during his travels, taught women and rescued them from slander, sickness, stoning, and humiliation. 

This conversation between Nancy Leigh DeMoss, Mary Kassian,  Dannah Gresh, Carolyn McCulley, and Kim Wagner is one that will provide a good place for women in Christ to begin thinking about the worldview regarding women.  How do we as Christ following women address the feminist movement?  How do we instruct our daughters and younger women on this subject and from which perspective? We must allow scripture to shape our thinking, be our influence and fuel our energy on this subject. In Christ we move and have our being, as the Author and finisher of our faith it is to Him we must turn to for guidance and serve as the foundation for our stance.  At the same time we must love our radical sisters with the view from the world about our place as women.  We are in the world but not of the world. We must not love the world neither the things in the world but we do love the people in the world and with every fiber of our being we must lovingly present the gospel to them that they might be saved!  If Paul were to address us as a group of women on this issue certainly he would have to say, 'such were some of you', referring to the radical feminist stance.  We have shared the world's view on this subject at times and maybe some still do. but we must not banish anyone for that because we've been there too.  No high horses here.  No superior soap box, just understanding and attempts to get the Biblical view out there in the trenches.  It's not wave our brassiere in one hand and our bible in the other, but as bible centered women we wave His banner over us and lovingly take up the cause. We fight against human trafficking, prostitution, and for better education and conditions for all women.  We give aid to the widows and help them glean in our modern world.  We teach skills that propel employment, self sufficiency and with it the gospel that saves to the uttermost.  For what are all those skills, job opportunities, food and education and still not have Christ the Redeemer?  Jesus is fairer, purer and dearer, He makes our sorrowing spirit sing.