God's Good Design
Friday, October 5, 2012 at 06:26AM When I was in university, I took a course about the history of women in Canada. I was a history major, and yes, this class interested me. It was a fascinating class largely because I could see how things had progressed to where I was. I did my university studies as a mother of young children, and I think that adds a different understanding than when one studies as a 21 year old who has not been married with children yet or even lived entirely independent from her family.
One of the things we studied, of course, was the first wave of feminism and how it influenced Canada, specifically in the women's suffrage movement and also in the Christian Women's Temperance Union, which exerted quite a bit of influence here. Famous women like Nellie McClung, Emily Murphy and Irene Parlby were involved with it. I saw very quickly that feminism affected my daily life quite a bit: the paid maternity leave benefits I received were a result of it; my right to vote; the fact that my name was on our mortgage. Any woman who thinks that feminism has not affected her hasn't thought about it long enough.
In the first chapter of her book God's Good Design, Claire Smith gives a brief history of the three waves of feminism, and she points out that we have all been influenced by it. She entitles her first chapter "The Fine Dust of Feminism," likening its effect to a fine dust settling on her home of Sydney in 2009. She goes on to point out, though, that feminism itself has been affected by other cultural changes, seen most notably in this recent, third wave of feminism which has been profoundly influenced by post modern thinking. She also points out the good things feminism has wrought, things which are consistent with biblical thinking.
She does, however, focus on the reality that feminism's infiltration into the church cannot go unnoticed by Christian women. It has had a profound influence. I liked her comment here:
Given the complex and all-pervasive nature of feminism, and the huge impact it has had on us all, it is little wonder that trying to understand and accept God's purposes for men and women requires some hard work. It is like trying to read a serious book when the TV is blaring. There is just too much noise going on for us to hear clearly what God is saying - noise which is often cultural and personal.
To complicate things even further, sometimes this noise comes from Christian brothers and sisters who at other times have been beloved and reliable teachers in their sermons and books.
While these issues concern women of all ages, younger women face some uncertain times. My daughter, although being raised in a Christian home where things like biblical roles for men and women were taught, works in a very feministic environment. It simply leaks out into everything she learns in a faculty where most professors are women and feminists. There are many issues I know she has not entirely worked out simply because she's surrounded by the noise.
I'm looking forward to this book. So far, I like Smith's writing style. She's clear, concise, and obviously has a lot of common sense. I'm hoping to summarize each chapter as I go, as time allows.
Reader Comments (7)
I also took a women's history class in college and I found it so interesting. It didn't so much focus on feminism (although that was, of course, a portion of it), more so the daily lives of women throughout American history, an area that often gets ignored in favor of wars and politics throughout history. We got to read some interesting biographies too, such as one on Joseph Smith's wife and another one called A Midwife's Tale; both of them were completely fascinating.
Anyway, I look forward to reading your summaries of this book...I started reading Mary Kassian's The Feminine Mistake and my eyes were glazing over by the 2nd chapter; it just read so much like a textbook, millions of footnotes and all.
Do persist with Mary Kassian's book, Elizabeth. I read it years ago, and it was a very good book, footnotes and all :)
Thank you, Kim for posting this! I am going to put this book on my Christmas list (my hubby likes to buy me books for Christmas, he's a seminary prof). I second the comment to finish Mary Kassian's book, it is very insightful.
Thanks for this blog! I just "found you" a couple of weeks ago. I was telling our Pastor's wife that I finally found a blog with some "meat" for me to chew on!
I will eventually finish it, but I don't think it's going to be one of those books that I will get through all at once...probably little bits here and there so I can process all the info.
Deb, thanks for commenting! A husband who buys books for gifts is a good husband!
I want to read this one. We need to be ready to defend God's biblical design for women and men; it is scary to see how many young professing Christians are embracing feminism.
Thanks for the recommendation, sister... :) (even when it means ONE more book! HA!)
What's one more book, right, Becky?