The Barbie movie has recently earned a lot of controversy, often from Christians. Especially with the underscore of feminist roots in the movie, Christians have been advised to stay away.
Why do we, as Christians, skitter away from the idea of feminism? Granted, some of the toxic recent waves of feminism have issues—feminism that seeks to eradicate men entirely and supports measures like abortion. These attitudes probably should not appear in the church.
However, what about first-wave feminism? Is there a view of this from a biblical perspective? I argue that there can be. Let’s dive in.
What Is Biblical Feminism? My Definition
As someone who studied philosophy from a Christian perspective, I know it’s important always to establish definitions upfront. Here’s my proposed definition of biblical feminism versus worldly feminism.
Worldly Feminism: A woman can do whatever she wants to do.
This definition has no accountability. If a woman decides to murder or steal, who will tell her not to do those things? Here is a better biblical definition.
Biblical Feminism: A woman can do whatever she feels called to do if God calls her.
In this definition, women still have agency. Still have equality with men, as men can do whatever they feel called to do. But the definition solely depends on what God calls us to do.
So, for instance, if a woman wants to be a stay-at-home mom, and God calls her to be a stay-at-home mom, that is an instance of biblical feminism.
Conversely, if a woman feels called to a career, God calls her into that career… you get the picture.
When biblical feminism is not implemented is when a woman does not do what God calls her to do.
For instance, if a woman wants to be a stay-at-home mom, God has currently called her into a career. If that woman continues to stay at home, she is being disobedient to her calling.
Biblical Feminism Vs. Biblical Womanhood
So how is this any different than biblical womanhood?
It may surprise you that the terms _biblical manhood_ and _biblical womanhood_ didn’t exist until the 1980s. Until I’d discovered that, I’d assumed they’d been concepts floating around forever.
Made in response to the radical 1970s feminist movement, evangelicals had offered a different way to view gender roles: biblical manhood and womanhood.
And although they had the best intentions, this limits what men and women can do as Christians.
Biblical womanhood essentially pigeonholes women into one role: mother. And if a woman cannot be a mother—before adoption or fostering—she may pursue a career. But she must stop that short the moment she has children so she can stay at home with them and homeschool them—as the same movement believes that if Christian parents do not homeschool their children, the “world is raising them.”
Caveat: I feel like this always needs to get brought up here because I can already envision the angry emails I will get over this article. So let me be clear…
- There is nothing wrong with being a stay-at-home parent. I know many and highly respect what they do.
- There is nothing wrong with homeschooling. I’ve known many people to have received a biblical education this way.
With that out of the way, the difference between what we call biblical womanhood and my definition of biblical feminism is the following.
Biblical Womanhood Isn’t Consistent with Scripture
We’ll get into this in a moment, but not every woman in Scripture was a stay-at-home mom. Many of them were what we would define as “career women.” There were female prophets, leaders, and—here’s the kicker—in authority roles in the church. Although the latter is a whole other debate, the definition of biblical womanhood ignores these instances.
Biblical Womanhood Could Go Against What God Calls a Woman to Do
Maybe God is calling a woman to teach at a public school. If her husband tells her, “Well, I don’t care. A woman’s role is to be at home,” then the husband defies what God calls the woman to do. It’s so important for Christians to ignore their feelings and do what God has called them to do.
Biblical Womanhood Can Allow Power-Hungry People to Take Advantage
Don’t get me wrong; God made differences between males and females. And in most marriage models that Christians implement, they elect a head. And that person is the male.
However, too often have I seen some male Christians hide behind the definition of biblical manhood and womanhood as a reason to neglect or abuse a spouse. Often, I’ve seen certain husbands make decisions that benefit the husband, not the whole family.
Biblical feminism, on the other hand, pushes back against this. It tells the husband, “I don’t care if you want XYZ thing for your benefit. We cannot ignore that call if God has called us to do this.”
With this in mind, let’s see examples of women in the Bible who did things that biblical womanhood would often flinch against.
Feminism in the Bible
The Bible is full of stay-at-home moms, prophetesses, and leaders. Let’s see some examples of the diversity of women’s roles in the Bible.
Deborah: Deborah was a leader of Israel, a prophetess, and possibly a mother. Often, I’ll hear people say, “Well, the men weren’t stepping up, so that’s why a woman had to lead.” But I do have some serious doubts that there wasn’t a single man in all of Israel who couldn’t have judged—considering a male judge filled in the role after Deborah passed.
Ruth: Ruth, as a single woman, works the fields. When she has a child, we can assume she’s a stay-at-home mom. Ruth does both: works and stays at home.
Esther: A queen who ended up saving Israel from mass genocide. Need we add anything else?
Elizabeth: We don’t know if Elizabeth worked, and Scripture doesn’t seem to indicate so. She was the wife of a priest and would’ve been equivalent to a pastor’s wife. She’s the mother of John the Baptist.
Mary: The mother of Jesus. Joseph likely died sometime in Jesus’ teenage or young adult years. Mary would’ve been a single mother at that point.
Priscilla: Priscilla is a working woman. She makes tents alongside her husband and Paul. Priscilla also teaches in the church. She pulls Apollos aside to correct his theological mishaps.
Phoebe: Phoebe was a deaconess. And as much as people like to argue about whether or not this was a position in church authority, church history is full of women taking on church leadership roles.
As you can see, women don’t fit one particular mold in Scripture. There are so many wonderful mothers, grandmothers, single mothers, working women, women who cannot have children, etc., in Scripture.
Through the lens of biblical feminism, all of these women followed their respective callings. They listened carefully to the voice of God and did what he’d called them to do.
Some Concluding Thoughts
This is a loaded topic. There are going to be some people who just read the title and choose to send me an angry email.
Even for those who do read the article in full, I will still receive some angry responses.
I know a handful of reasons why this will happen. Perhaps people will flinch at the idea that biblical womanhood doesn’t have solid roots throughout church history. Or perhaps people will think I’m somehow going on a tirade against hard-working stay-at-home moms (I truly am not).
As the world increasingly tries to delete the very idea that God has made male and female, often we can see the topic of feminism and assume someone has an agenda to do the very same thing.
Hear me as I say that our every decision must be filtered through what God has called us to do. As we can see throughout Scripture, God has called men and women to various roles.
Some teach, some work in church, some are warriors, etc.
We must implement heavy discernment as we figure out what God has called us to do.
But I’d hate to see Satan limit our ability to evangelize and reach the greater world through the roles we have pigeonholed ourselves into.
For another take on this subject, see this interview with Sarah Bessey, author of Jesus Feminist.
iBelieve.com - Jesus Feminist: How Does the Bible View Women? from ibelievedotcom on GodTube.
Further Reading:
Is it Possible to Be a Christian and a Modern Feminist?
Is Christian Feminism Biblical?
How Should Pastors Approach the Subject of Feminism?
Photo Credit: © Getty Images/subkontr
Hope Bolinger is an acquisitions editor at End Game Press, book editor for hire, and the author of almost 30 books. More than 1500 of her works have been featured in various publications. Check out her books at hopebolinger.com for clean books in most genres, great for adults and kids. Check out her editing profile at Reedsy.com to find out about hiring her for your next book project.
This article is part of our Christian Terms catalog, exploring words and phrases of Christian theology and history. Here are some of our most popular articles covering Christian terms to help your journey of knowledge and faith:
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