A few weeks ago Twitter exploded with #YesAllWomen. If you’re
unfamiliar, I’ll try to be brief for all of you who are well-aware. The
#NotAllMen was started as a response by men to women discussing the trials of
being female in a patriarchal society. Well-meaning, defensive men popped up
with “not all of us! Some of us are nice!” To which women said, “Duh. Thanks for
once again underestimating our intelligence and making this discussion about
you.” While #NotAllMen are misogynists, #YesAllWomen suffer from misogyny.
Then, the shooting in California happened and the discussion became so much
more than internet comments. And the #YesAllWomen the movement was born, and
women all over the world shared their 140-character stories about fear, rape,
sexual assault, microaggressions, professional slights, sexualized comments and
actions. You can read some great ones here.
Since Twitter trends of this magnitude make the internet
explode, there were blog posts everywhere, and I voraciously read each one. I
wrote some of my own #YesAllWomen tweets, which you can read @DeathsharkMcGee.
I like to send a few links each week on my parent newsletter, with hot topics
in parenting, faith, technology, and/or teenagers. I was looking for something
good on #YesAllWomen from a Christian perspective, and all I got was one
feminist rant by a Christian and one anti-feminist rant by a Christian. I was
looking for, of course, a Christian feminist rant.
Wait! I hear you call – Christian feminist? That’s a thing?
I thought all feminists were man-hating atheists! I will admit to you all that
in my college conservative phase, I disavowed the word “feminist,” not
understanding its true definition. Now I’m trying to make up for my lack of judgment.
I am going to posit to you something shocking: that to be a good Christian, you
must be a feminist.
Let’s review the definition of feminism, since it seems to
have taken on a completely different connotation than its denotation these
days:
Feminism: “both a coordinated set of ideas and a practical
plan of action, rooted in women’s critical awareness of how a culture
controlled in meaning and action by men, for their own advantage, oppresses
women and dehumanizes men.” – Joann Wolski Conn
Hopefully, now, the picture of what I am trying to say is
taking shape. One of the most paramount fixtures of Christianity and
particularly Catholicism (which names herself universal) is community. In the
Gospels and in Paul’s writings we are constantly told to take care of the community
and that much like the armed forces or poorly designed education legislature,
no one is left behind.
- Matthew 25:40 “‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’” (If you don’t think women count as “the least,” read some more #yesallwomen tweets)
- 1 Corinthians 12:24b-26 “But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.” Read the whole passage and tell me not to take care of 50% of our body.
- Galatians 3:26-28 “So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
- And as the ever-liturgical musician, I am going to point to the most universal of English-speaking Catholic songs: “One Bread, One Body” which is dripping with communal language.
I have been thinking about this blog post for a long time
and avoiding the actual writing, but now I’m glad I waited this long. This past
Sunday was Trinity Sunday, where we contemplate the mind-boggling mystery of
triune monotheism. Three persons, one God... a community. Yes, even our God is
a community in a constant dance visceral love. #YesAllWomen and feminism is not
just about women. It’s about being a community of love. If one part suffers,
the whole body suffers. And we just witnessed thousands of tweets testifying to
the fact that not one part, but half the body is suffering. More than that, if
you consider the male and female children of a mother who is not being paid the
same wage as her male counterpart. More if you recognize the ugly suffering
that causes someone to perpetrate a crime of hate and control, which is what
sex crimes are. More when a boy is teased and called a “girl” or a couple of
other rude words I will not dignify by typing here. More when a boy is told to
“be a man,” and he learned. So yes, the whole body is suffering.
There is more I could say, like if you want to bring up
Ephesians 5 I’m going to make you read me the passage again and ask you to tell
me how loving and laying down your life for your wife means that you are
supposed to own her or the Catechism passage that reads “Man and woman are both
with one and the same dignity ‘in the image of God,’” (CCC369) but I’m sure
you’re ready to stop reading this and start being a Christian feminist.
Since my initial search, I tried again and found a smidgen
more posts about Christianity and #YesAllWomen. They are definitely worth
reading.
- I put this one at the top, because it’s also about the Trinity: #YesAllWomen: Love, and the Destruction of Hierarchies
- Elliot Rodger, #YesAllWomen, and Loving Victims of Hate
- Christian Man Reflects on #YesAllWomen and Male Sexual Entitlement
- incredibly moving: How does the church respond to #Yesallwomen?
- really well-written: #YesAllWomen Should Have the Church on Their Side
- If you’re into complementarian theology: #YesAllWomen: How Complementarian Theology Speaks to the Latest Internet Meme
- #YesAllWomen. The girl who cried wolf and other myths.
