How Women Can Transcend the Equality Barrier

Biblical Feminism is not about being equal to a man.

I am not a man, therefore, why would I wish to be equal to one? Today’s feminists spend most of their time promoting the idea that men are ignorant, sexist, racist, homophobic meatheads whose solitary goal in life is to get laid. Yet their entire purpose depends on the claim that we’re equal to that bunch. That’s like saying you hate the popular kids in school while secretly wishing they had invited you to their lame beer parties.

When it comes to high school, you didn’t hate the popular kids as much as you hated being forced into a culture that tried to define you on the basis of their purview. The same goes for feminism: It is an ideology that forces women into ancient pagan notions of gender. To the feminist, women are defined by and confined within their bodies. Moreover, women are sexual beings whose number one concern is their fertility.

Of course, no feminist words it this way. Instead, they parade around claiming that all women would choose to have a man’s life if they had a choice. “If only I weren’t stuck with this uterus, I could be as sexually free as Don Draper,” the line goes. “If only I didn’t have these children suckling at my breast, I could be at the top of the corporate ladder.”

Feminism argues for biological liberation under the guise of social reform. It is an ideology that looks at the world and says, “Ermahgerd, I’m so totally like you, it’s just myself that’s getting in the way! Please invite me to your party!”

In the beginning (B’resheet, aka Genesis) God states, “Let us make humankind in our image, in the likeness of ourselves…” God wasn’t speaking with the Royal We; rather, Elohim (the ‘im’ makes the Hebrew term plural) spoke in accurate first person plural:

“The equality of men and women begins at the highest possible level: G-d. In Judaism, unlike traditional Christianity, G-d has never been viewed as exclusively male or masculine. Judaism has always maintained that G-d has both masculine and feminine qualities. …Both man and woman were created in the image of G-d. According to most Jewish scholars, “man” was created in Gen. 1:27 with dual gender, and was later separated into male and female.”

While God may always be referred to in masculine terms, such as Elohim, His Spirit is not; the term “Ruach” is female. Given that “both sexes were created equally, directly by G-d, and in equal likeness to Him,” this is perhaps why “according to traditional Judaism, women are endowed with a greater degree of ‘binah’ (intuition, understanding, intelligence) than men.”

Obviously Rabbinic Judaism and denominational Christianity both have varying interpretations of gender equality. These interpretations often stray far from the Biblical text, but the explanation nevertheless can be found within the pages of scripture:

“So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah.  They said to him, ‘You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.’

But when they said, ‘Give us a king to lead us,’ this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord.  And the Lord told him: ‘Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.’

…But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us.  Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.”

Not only did the ancient Israelites reject their own unique identity in order to fit in with their pagan neighbors, they turned their backs on their own prophets – male and female – in favor of a purely patriarchal system of government!

Sound familiar? Whether the ancient Israelites, modern Jewish or Christian religions, or the feminist movement, the struggle remains the same: To fit in or be a stand out in the crowd. Biblical feminists choose to stand out, advocating for the individual’s rights, both female and male, on the grounds of being created in the image of God, not comparable to one another. And with all that time not being wasted on stereotyping, hating and being jealous of the opposite sex we can actually be happy making the world a better place for everyone involved.