To clarify my blog’s name:

[My blog title comes from the Ani song, "Reprieve." I just want to say from the start that the following blog deals with a complicated, broad topic that could have been supported with all kinds of fabulous scholarly work. I acknowledge all the research and work that has been done and relates to the ideas I express, but this blog is mainly an expression of my thoughts and feelings on the topic. It's not meant to be academic. Also, I don't mention the struggle of people of color, and more specifically, women of color, but I will be writing more on this topic of equality and its relationship with these other groups. At some point in the near future I will also be taking a more scholarly look at the discussion of race within feminist dialogue and literature, and how the struggles for women's rights and civil rights interconnect.]

I love the idea of equality – but what does it mean? I know what it means to me. However, when I hear that word I may get a very different image in my mind than, say, a male friend, or a white friend, or a friend in the military might get. You see, the word “equality” gets used by countless people groups to communicate various ideas about how we should get along together socially. But where is the consistency in the meaning of this word when it gets tossed around so much in so many diverse and distinctly different dialogues? I think it must be elaborated upon, and specifically described in order for us to truly understand what many oppressed groups are searching for when they make the general demand for “equality.”

Growing up, I always believed that girls were equal to, but different from boys. It’s not that we couldn’t play baseball, it’s just that most of us didn’t want to. It’s not that we couldn’t fight or cuss or stand up for ourselves… it’s just that most of us weren’t interested. My views have matured considerably since then but I still think many people – many women as well as men – don’t actually comprehend what equality is supposed to mean for women. I mean, most women don’t actually have the desire to burn their bras, chop off their hair, wipe off their makeup, and run around with a politically radical agenda – this is inaccurate image of feminism floating around in the minds of many. Most women I talk to look forward to fulfilling the [society-given] roles of motherhood, wifehood, and being beautiful. Many contemporary women have become so comfortable with the freedoms and opportunities now available to them that they don’t value those freedoms or the women who risked their lives to get us here.

I think part of the reason for women being irreverent to women’s rights is the part that Christianity plays in the minds of many American women. Traditional Biblical interpretations as taught in most evangelical protestant churches, as well as Catholic churches for centuries, is that women are subordinate to men. Not that they aren’t valuable to God, or “equal,” but that they simply have a different role to fulfill. This is where the huge gap seems to come from … you have the women’s rights activists dating back to the mid-19th century with Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, then the transition into a post-slavery America with women still fighting for equal rights (such as child custody laws, property ownership, and the right to vote, among others), and finally after the turn of the century women get the vote in 1922. Many of these suffragists used the Christian faith and the Bible to back up their cause. These were intelligent, educated, women, who were not looking to overturn their faith, but rather to work out their faith in a world that they could more easily make sense of – a world where they had the opportunity to develop an identity outside of their relationship to a man, whether it be their fathers, husbands, brothers, or sons.

However, it seems today that many Christian women view the word, “feminism” as a dirty word. Radical though it may be, it’s certainly not dirty. It’s one of the most beautiful words I know, and to me it simply means that women are free to be themselves – whatever that may be. Whatever an individual woman finds herself to be – whatever religion, political-belief system, sexual orientation, or profession she wants. Free to live in a society that does not trap her into a forced “role” at every corner. No doubt we still deal with sexism in many arenas, but we know that America is drastically different than it once was. Why do so many Christian women turn their nose up at the term, “feminist?” I believe in a God and a Christianity that intended a very different view of women (and all people for that matter) than the one our country and our major religious institutions have perpetuated.

What have we gained from Feminists? Let’s just remind ourselves for a moment what would be different is there never was a women’s rights movement: we would not have equal access to education; we would not be allowed to have custody of our children after a divorce, we would not own property (translate that into our modern time and this could be applied to all kinds of other valuable possessions); we would not be free to pursue any profession or oftentimes a profession at all (think hard about that one); we would not be able to make financial decisions for ourselves, and this in combination with the lack of education and career implies no means whatsoever of living independently or having any say in our lifestyle at all. All of these freedoms give us the possibility to live the lifestyles many of us currently lead – without these freedoms, we would simply be living at the mercy of the men around us. Not to mention that fact that if you take away all these freedoms you end up with a life largely void of purpose. We all have some desire to do something of worth during our time on this earth. And while some women truly feel complete by being wives and mothers – there are just as many who do not. There are many women throughout history who were written off as crazy because of the depression they suffered as a result of being denied the opportunity to express themselves and their true aspirations for life. Imagine all the talented writers, doctors, scientists, teachers, artists, musicians, and you-fill-in-the-blank that the world has been deprived of throughout history because of all the women who were never allowed to break out of the expectations set on them by society (society = men in power).

So what does equality mean? I think gender equality is something that both genders must embrace together. Because it’s only when we come together with a peaceable mindset that we can heal this still-seeping wound. Women do not want men to treat them “Differently.” Women do not want men to speak equitably in their presence, only to turn around and speak inequitably behind their backs. Women want men to start to think equitably, and live equitably, not only opening new avenues for women, but opening new avenues for themselves as men. Because it is in helping to liberate others that one may find his/her own liberation. And most of all, as a woman, I want a reprieve: a break, a lifting of a burden.

“if you have come to help me, you are wasting your time. but if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.”
-ms. lilla watson, an aboriginal australian woman addressing a missionary serving in her country

(yes beth, I stole that one from you!)

“Washing one’s hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral.”

-Paulo Freire

“Education either functions as an instrument which is used to facilitate integration of the younger generation into the logic of the present system and bring about conformity or it becomes the practice of freedom, the means by which men and women deal critically and creatively with reality and discover how to participate in the transformation of their world.”

-Paulo Freire

“As all advocates of feminist politics know most people do not understand sexism or if they do they think it is not a problem. Masses of people think that feminism is always and only about women seeking to be equal to men. And a huge majority of these folks think feminism is anti-male. Their misunderstanding of feminist politics reflects the reality that most folks learn about feminism from patriarchal mass media.”

-Bell Hooks

“Since our society continues to be primarily a “Christian” culture masses of people continue to believe that god has ordained that women be subordinate to men in the domestic household.”

-Bell Hooks