Girls, Feminism, and Femininity – Part 1

Don’t get me wrong, I believe in girl power; but there’s a point when it crosses the order of God. No, I am not a feminist; but neither do I believe that a woman is powerless. But the feminist movement has stolen the very fiber of whom they represent - females and their femininity. A feminist is defined as someone who supports feminism1 and feminism is ‘a range of movements and ideologies that share a common goal: to define, establish, and achieve equal political, economic, cultural, personal, and social rights for women2.’ Therefore, a better working definition of a feminist is someone who ‘advocates or supports the rights and equality of women which includes a woman’s right to vote, to hold public office, to work, to fair wages or equal pay, to own property, to education, to enter contracts, and to have equal rights within marriage. [They also] promote bodily autonomy and integrity, and to protect women and girls from rape, sexual harassment, and domestic violence.3’

Being a Girl

Feminism comes across as empowerment; which being a woman, I’m all for. Take for instance the Always® #LikeAGirl Campaign that launched yesterday. In it, girls were asked to give an assessment of what it meant to be a girl. Their heartfelt assessments about what life has already taught them in their few short years about ‘being a girl’ got me to really thinking. The girls were asked to write what they thought ‘being a girl’ meant on boxes and they used phrases like:

‘Should be perfect’

‘Very talkative’

‘Weak’

‘Adorable’

‘Emotional’

'Submissive’

‘Can’t rescue’

‘Can’t be brave’

‘Supposed to be happy and la-tee-da’

‘Traditional and unable to anything challenging’

The commercial cited that of the women they surveyed, 72% felt as if they were limited by society. And honestly, I understand and can agree. But, I think it’s because as women, we don’t know how to be women; simply because we were never biblically taught how to be girls. We weren’t taught our identity - in God - at an early age; which meant by the time puberty hit, we allowed society and feminist to define and give us our identities; simply because we didn't know our real identity – in Christ.

Girls in God

As adults, we tend to believe that children cannot grasp the concept of God and the realities of His Word. As a result, we lead them to believe that you have to be an adult in order to do so. But by then, it’s too late. Not late, as in never; but late as in the societal damage has been done. But children, even babies, have the innate ability to know God. This is proven in Luke 1:41 which says, ‘And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.’ That baby knew that the Lord Jesus was present; even in Mary’s womb; which lets us know that children, even babies, can identify God.

As mothers, it’s up to us to lead them to Him so that they can discover what it means to be a girl – in Him and not in the world. Proverbs 22:6 says, ‘Train up a child in the way [she] should go, and when [she] is old [she] will not depart from it.’ Girls don’t value their girly-ness because they’ve not been taught how to be God’s girl. We, as women, haven’t fully embraced our femininity because we haven’t understood our woman-osity in God. We've yet to discover (by faith we are now) what it looks like to be feminine – according to God’s standards and not the world’s.

Pray this with me: Heavenly Father, I don’t know what it means to be truly feminine. I let others define my femininity and even ran away from it. Please forgive me. Lord, help me to discover what it means to be feminine. Show me how to be a woman ‘in God’ and not just a woman 'of God.' In Jesus’ name. If you want to equip your girls with the confidence they need to embrace their femininity, then download your copy of Biblical Bridal Preparation today!

Copyright 2015 © Real Issues Ministries®. All rights reserved.

SOURCES:

1 - 3 - Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 07 July 2015.

4 - "Yahoo Web Search." Equal. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 July 2015.