Are We Creating a Society of Worthy Women?

I was listening to Candace Owens recently and she asked a really interesting question: “Are women in American society, worthy?”

She was asking specifically if women are worthy of respect and honor. I think the question is a good one to unpack, especially as someone raising young women.

On the one hand we’re all worthy of the same things like respect and honor because we’re made in the image of God. If you’re talking about it in that sense, then the answer is of course, yes. 

But Owens was talking about it from a secular perspective. She wasn’t asking the question about intrinsic value of a person. She was asking in terms of women’s general behavior in our society and whether those behaviors demand or elicit the respect and high esteem of men. 

What do we see when we look around for the answer? 

Feminism has become totally mainstream. Feminism teaches girls that they don’t need men, that men are stupid and deserve disrespect. You see this messaging in sitcoms, movies, and shows and it continues through societal conversations. Feminism teaches women that they are exactly like men (except oftentimes they’re smarter). It tells young girls that they should treat their sexuality flippantly. The only requirement for sex is that it is with someone you “love”. It normalizes many partners throughout life and makes Biblically commanded behavior for women antiquated and suppressive. Dressing sexually or provocatively is encouraged as a freeing form of expression. 

Feminism teaches that sex is a totally separate thing from having children, and that children are a total drag. This particular feminist viewpoint has really infiltrated the Christian ranks big time. It is common for Christian parents to speak about their children as if they are a burden and a pain, when God talks about children as a blessing and heritage from the Lord. Feminism teaches that the number of children a person has is something totally up to them and completely in their control. Scripture talks about life completely differently: as something completely up to God and in His control. You can’t have it both ways. Either God controls life, it’s only ever a blessing, and He alone knows when it’s best to give it, or He doesn’t and you do. When the Bible says the Word of God is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path, it is speaking the truth: if we know our Bible then we can weed through messaging in our society (like feminism) and know which messages are good and which are poisonous. This is why we need to prioritize our children knowing their Bibles too!

Feminism views children as a threat to a woman’s career, and relegated to the position of last on the “to do” list in life, if they get any position at all. That’s where things like surrogacy enter the picture. People find that they are not getting pregnant when they decide that now is the right time to have a child, so instead of adopting a needy child who has already been born, they rent out another woman’s body, implant sperm, and then tear that child from the mother who carried them for 9 months. They don’t do this because it’s best for the baby obviously, but because the person simply desires a child in this particular way. They aren’t thinking of what’s best for that baby, but what is best for THEM. This is what THEY want. And that is a cancerous message that comes with feminism: look inward to yourself and your desires, don’t look outward to others and their needs.

Feminism says that children can be disposed of in utero if you don’t want them, and if you dispose of them you are actually empowered. Reality is that when you murder your own child, you carry that for the rest of your life.

 Feminism says single motherhood by choice is honorable, and divorce is actually a good thing (not even a necessary evil, but actually good) if you don’t feel super happy in your marriage. It also teaches young women that degrading their bodies by taking off their clothing for pictures/attention or dressing in provocative ways is a sign that they are truly free and strong. Our culture says strength isn’t found in sacrifice. It’s found in selfishness. Fulfillment isn’t found in turning outward, but in turning inward. 

This is the cancerous lie and the one we need to be actively countering in our discussions with our children and in the way we rear them. God designed men and women differently and for different complimentary roles, and we find fulfillment when we actually fulfill the purposes for which we were created. Women were designed by God to nurture and care for others, so that is where they find primary fulfillment. Men were created to defend and sacrifice for others (often a wife and children), and that is where they find fulfillment.

Obviously, I’m not saying everyone is created to get married and have a family. Some people are meant to be single for specific reasons and purposes that God has designed them for.

What I am saying is that both the marriage and single life find purpose and fulfillment when our lives are directed outward towards others, and when we don’t just live for ourselves and our pleasure. 

As I think about these things, I think about how important it is to raise my girls up without feminism and with Biblical knowledge. We are all worthy and we need to act like it and to teach our children to act like it. We should highly value God’s design, our differences as male and female, and the concept of sacrifice. The way towards a fulfilling life is in following God’s design for us and in looking outward, not inward. It’s living for others, and not for the self.