Why Do We Still Devalue Women?

It's war...again.

This time, not between north and south, or Democrat and Republican -- but men and women. 

According to Franklin Raddish pastor of the Capitol Hill Independent Baptist Ministries, the recent plethora of sexual scandals represents a direct affront to men, in fact, a war on men.  According to Raddish, 

"... women are chasing young boys up and down the road, but we don't hear about that because it's not PC."  http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2017/11/alabama_pastors_stand_behind_r.html

Well, women have been sexual predators.  As Laura Stemple, Director of UCLA's Health and Human Rights Law Project, reported last year in The Atlantic:  

 "...in incidents of sexual violence reported to the National Crime Victimization Survey, 38 percent of victims were men––a figure much higher than in prior surveys..." https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/11/the-understudied-female-sexual-predator/503492/

However -- overall -- women are more prone to experience sexual abuse and violence, than men.  As The Atlantic article goes on to conclude, though instances of sexual victimization by men are higher than originally assumed -- nevertheless --"...women were vastly more likely to experience abuse perpetrated by men..." https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/11/the-understudied-female-sexual-predator/503492/

For me the reason is straight-forward - though controversial -- we still devalue women.  

After all these years (in spite of 'baby-boomer feminism,' and other initiatives to empower) women are still viewed as the 'weaker' gender -- not quite strong enough -- able enough -- smart enough -- to truly lead and contribute on an equal par with men.  

The origin of that belief, in part, is rooted in Charles Darwin's famed Origins of the Species.  In 1881 Caroline Kennard, a leader in the woman's movement in Boston, reached out to Darwin for reassurance that his research confirmed equity between the species.  Darwin's reply was a shocker:  “There seems to me to be a great difficulty from the laws of inheritance, (if I understand these laws rightly) in [women] becoming the intellectual equals of man. https://www.theguardian.com/science/occams-corner/2017/jun/01/inferior-by-angela-saini-a-powerful-exploration-of-womens-inferiority

Ongoing research, however, has disputed Darwin's conclusion.  In her new book, Inferior, Angela Saini, painstakingly moves through established, assumed research on women and inequality and reexamines their findings, along with unearthing new research that reveals yet different results.  The conclusion, for Saini:  

 "...Science has everything to offer women and men who want to live in a fairer world...Research to date suggests that humans survived, thrived, and spread across the globe through the efforts of everyone equally sharing the same work and responsibilities.  For most our history, we lived in hand. And our biology reflects this..."  Angela Saini.  Inferior.  Boston:  Beacon Press, 2017, p. 180. https://www.amazon.com/dp/0807071706/ref=rdr_ext_tmb

Now, such a conclusion is not to be confused with a unisex outcome, which fails to affirm any gender differences. Men and women are different.  Why, the anatomical variance between men and women, alone, is just one indicator of the legitimate, unmistakable difference between male and female.  But that difference, crafted at the very moment of creation, is not to be confused with inequality.

Commenting on Genesis 2: 20-24, an often-used biblical text to document gender inequality (i.e. Eve being formed from the rib of Adam) -- biblical sage Matthew Henry mused -- in 1706, no less: 

"...woman was made of a rib out of the side of Adam; not made out of his head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved..."https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/matthew-henry/Gen.2.21-Gen.2.25

Amazing.  Matthew Henry 'got it right' in 1706.  We still don't 'get it right' in 2017 -- 311 years later.

A few suggestions for 'getting it right':  

1.   Grasp That Devaluing Women (Or Anyone) Is Sin.  Plain and Simple.  There are so many Bible passages to document this, and many are familiar:

• “…God created men and women to be like himself. He gave them his blessing and called them human beings…”(Genesis 5:1-2, CEV).  
• "...Faith in Christ Jesus is what makes each of you equal with each other, whether you are a Jew or a Greek, a slave or a free person, a man or a woman..."  (Galatians 3:28, CEV). "
• ...For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality..." (Deuteronomy 10:17 NIV).  

An overlooked scriptural passage, in the spirit of Deuteronomy 10:17, is Acts 10:34-36. Confused by the early church's belief that the bounty of Christ was restricted to only those conforming to Jewish identity (e.g. circumcision, kosher food, etc.), Peter awakens to the all encompassing truth of The Gospel:

"...Peter...exploded with his good news: “It’s God’s own truth, nothing could be plainer: God plays no favorites! It makes no difference who you are or where you’re from—if you want God and are ready to do as he says, the door is open. The Message he sent to the children of Israel—that through Jesus Christ everything is being put together again—well, he’s doing it everywhere, among everyone...." (Acts 10:34-36, The Message, emphasis added).

Did you catch the phrase:  'God plays no favorites' -- including, we may infer -- favoritism toward men.  

2. Never 'Eye' A Men Or Women As A Means Of Sexual Self-Gratification.   Note the emphasis on self gratification.  For scripture is clear:  sex is for covenant -- not for the quenching of ones own lust.  

There are multiple ways to describe the recent proliferation of unwanted sexual advances toward women (in particular) -- but probably the most accurate is the desire to satisfy a sexual compulsion, through any means, even at someone else's expense.  

But boy, has 'the expense' been explicit in recent weeks. Why, since October 5th, when Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein was outed for his sexual escapades, at least 30 high-profile men, in a wide-range of occupations, have also been accused of various categories of misconduct. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/11/10/us/men-accused-sexual-misconduct-weinstein.html     And the list grows daily.

There's no one way to curb this trend, but a beginning step is blunt: 'take a cold shower.' Seriously.  Do something practical, to douse sexual arousal, rather than acting on your impulse and using  someone to 'relieve' your 'heat' and drive for self-gratification.

But the best step is to adopt scripture's 'take' on sex.   Paul says it best in Colossians 3:

“…Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life...is with Christ in God...That means killing off everything connected with that way of death: sexual promiscuity, impurity, lust, doing whatever you feel like whenever you feel like it, and grabbing whatever attracts your fancy. That’s a life shaped by things and feelings instead of by God...” (Colossians 3:3-8, The Message).

3. Empower Women, Like Jesus Empowered Women. The genius of scripture is found in the details of scripture.  And often overlooked in the detail, is the prominent way women factored into Jesus' conveyance of The Gospel. Danielle Strickland lists three specific ways Jesus employed women: women as disciples, women as thinkers, and women as evangelists.

Women As Disciples.  Beyond the 12 disciples, were other disciples, including women.  “He made his way through towns and villages preaching and proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God. With him went the Twelve, as well as certain women … Mary … Joanna … Susanna; and many others …” (Luke 8:1-3, NJB). As theologian Leonard Swidler observes:

“...The significance of...women following Jesus about, learning from and ministering to him, can be properly appreciated when it is recalled that not only were women not to read or study the Scriptures, but in the more observant (traditional) settings they were not even to leave their households, whether as a daughter, a sole wife, or a member of a harem..." http://acelebrationofwomen.org/2013/01/the-liberating-truth-how-jesus-empowers-women-jesus-the-feminist/   

Women As Thinkers.   In famed Mary and Martha story, Martha carried out the conventional role of a women in domestic activity.  But Mary "...sat at the Lord's feet listening to what [Jesus] said..."  (Luke 10: 39).  Martha infers this is wrong (e.g. not a woman's role) encouraging Jesus to compel Martha to get back to her rightful place, 'in the kitchen.'  But Jesus responds:  "...Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her..."  (Luke 10:42).  N.T. Wright teases the hidden meaning in this familiar text.

“Devotion is undoubtedly part of the importance of the story, but far more obvious to any first-century reader, and to many readers in Turkey, the Middle East and many other parts of the world to this day, would be the fact that Mary was sitting at Jesus’ feet within the male part of the house rather than being kept in the back rooms with the other women..." http://acelebrationofwomen.org/2013/01/the-liberating-truth-how-jesus-empowers-women-jesus-the-feminist/ 

Danielle Strickland further elaborates:

"... [Mary's posture and location, was] a way of saying that you are being a student, picking up the teacher’s wisdom and learning from him. And...you wouldn’t do this just for the sake of informing your own mind and heart, but in order to be a teacher, a rabbi, yourself..."http://acelebrationofwomen.org/2013/01/the-liberating-truth-how-jesus-empowers-women-jesus-the-feminist/ 

Women As Evangelists. The first evangelist in the New Testament was the woman at the well in John 4:1-42; why, immediately after identifying Jesus as Messiah, she scurries back to her home town and shares her discovery with her friends and family (John 4:29).

But often overlooked is the disciple's reaction prior to the woman's bolt back home.  "Just then the disciples returned and were surprised to find [Jesus] talking with a woman.."  (John 4:27)  And for good reason, men, let alone rabbis, were not to speak to women, for women were despised, with good Jews praying: “Blessed are you O God, King of the Universe, Who has not made me a goy [Gentile],” “a slave,” and “a woman.” https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/three-blessings/  Yet, Jesus prompted a woman, to be the first, to declare the Good News! 

And so there is no reason to devalue women.  Rather there is every reason to empower and elevate women, as equals with men, as a banner, that inequity and injustice is dead wrong, dividing and bifurcating.

But we serve a God who unites and reconciles through Jesus; a Jesus who now gives us the ministry of reconciliation.  For Jesus has:  

"...[torn] down the wall we used to keep each other at a distance...Instead of continuing with...groups of people separated by centuries of animosity and suspicion, he created a new kind of human being, a fresh start for everybody...Christ brought us together through his death on the cross. The Cross got us to embrace, and that was the end of the hostility...He treated us as equals and so made us equals..." (Ephesians 2:14-18, The Message). 

If Christ made us as equals and treats us as equals, we are to treat one other as equals, as well, whether male or female.

This is a priority.  For if one is an equal, one cannot be an object, or opportunity, for abuse.

There are many necessities as we address the current tsunami of scandal and sexual violation.  But a commitment to mutual respect and equal value is paramount -- and an urgent place to begin.