A woman with a noble character is worth more than diamonds and rubies. The men around her have their fullest confidence in her. She uses her resources to their fullest potential and she does not rely on her looks to get things done because she knows that physical beauty is only temporary. Does this sound like the view of women in the post-feminist world we live in, today? If not, that is because this image of women was written in the Bible around 950 B.C. Unfortunately, even after the efforts of the Feminist movement, America still wants to hold on to the idea of women being vulnerable sex objects.
Although there are women who are trying to change the way they are viewed and represented, because of media, pop culture, and the American gender code, their efforts have been unsuccessful. And when women are center-stage they are dressed in attire that would make many people blush. Oddly enough, this is not only accepted but expected behavior for the female species in today’s culture.
It is the current culture’s popular consensus that molds the gender code we live by. The writer of We’ve Come A Long Way, Maybe complains that it is the “gender code that tells girls that their primary concern should be with their appearances and with attracting boys while telling boys it’s not their appearance that counts but how many times they ‘score’. (Sonia Maasik and Jack Solomon 561)” Where did this ideology come from and why is it kept? For a country that says, “In God We Trust,” America seems to completely reject God’s image of women. Just by turning on a television set one can see that women fall into three categories. Women are either hateful, bitter feminists, or vulnerable, naïve girls, or “wonderfully dressed” half-naked women.
Instead of women rising up above the sexually objectified image, they spend their days wallowing in it. Some even actively identify with it. As a country we have taken the God-given identity we possess for granted. Even supposed feminists have conformed to this sexual persona. “Post feminists, who regard themselves as representing an evolution within the feminist movement itself, not a movement away from it, have argued that being proud of her body and using it to get what she wants is part of a woman’s empowerment, and so have applauded the new erotics as a gender code advance rather than a regression. (Sonia Maasik and Jack Solomon 562)” How does that make sense? Culture says that women are to have sex because that is what the men want, so women decide to fight this by using sex as a tool and are doing so by choice. Is this supposed to give them power?
Men do not use their sexuality by unbuttoning their starched shirts to get ahead in the workplace. Women, especially in America, have been fighting to be treated the same as men for centuries. So why is it that instead of being “clothed with strength and dignity (New International Version Bible, Proverbs 31:25)” we are lucky to see a woman dressed at all. Men rise ahead in the corporate industry because of their intellect, but it seems as though women are becoming too concerned with their image instead of their character and intellect. Many women believe that being stuck in a kitchen forced women into a box of superficiality and it was their environment that kept them oppressed. It seems, however, that once women entered the corporate world their insecurities were only reinforced. Just like every new employee, women had a chance to prove themselves and solidify their place in business. Unfortunately, instead of focusing their energy in making their strengths known and looking to others to cover their weaknesses, they were more concerned with how they physically presented themselves. Some dressed like men in an attempt to be treated like such and others became a distraction to the workingmen by dressing in an eye-catching way.
Aaron Devor, writer of Gender Role Behaviors and Attitudes, states “as patriarchy has reserved active expressions of power as a masculine attribute, femininity must be expressed through models of dress, movement, speech and action which communicate weakness, dependency, [and] ineffectualness…(569)” Is this the worldview we will conform to? Women should be striving to reach their fullest potential and realize that a woman “sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks… She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. (New International Version Bible, Proverbs 31:17, 26)”
Women have sabotaged themselves in this pursuit to be “just like men”. Men and women are different. Being different does not mean that they are inferior to men. Being different means an opportunity to express a different perspective on a case or an alternate method to solve a problem. It is in the power of diversity and versatility that a business will strive. The Bible and basic biology teaches that men are born from women. Women who raise their children should be guiding future generations with wise instruction. Does it make sense for those who were given the authority over future generations to be dimwitted or fearful? No, but somehow that is the idea that is being sold and bought today.
Women have given up the fight. Only a few decades ago, girls were brought up to be virtuous and “lady-like” while the boys were encouraged to stay out late at night with the “wild girls ”, just boys being boys. Today, because the battle seems a lost cause, instead of raising the standards for boys we have encouraged our girls to go with the culture flow and embody the sexual persona. Instead of teaching men to respect women we teach our girls that they are just like boys. We teach them to stay out late with the “wild guys” and use them to get ahead in life.
Women were never meant to be bystanders, but fighters. The media that surrounds the citizens of America everyday is undermining women’s true identity and the image God had set for His people long ago. In the beginning when God said, “[It is] not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him, (King James Version Bible, Genesis 2:18)” it is saying much more than what people have made it out to be today. The term “help meet” comes from the Hebrew word “`azar”, which is used to mean, “an ally in war.” God never meant for women “to be seen, not heard,” but working and fighting alongside men to create a better world.
In this war for the minds of future generations, women need to realize the true power they have. Instead of focusing on the surface’s beauty, we as a whole must dig deeper and work on becoming beautiful on the inside by developing our character and intellect. Do not let the media dictate who you are, but become the fighters you were meant to be and claim your God-given birthrights. America needs to stray from the idea of superiors and inferiors, but the idea of men and women, as one, fighting for a better tomorrow.
Works Cited
"Blue Letter Bible - Lexicon." Blue Letter Bible - Home Page. Web. 06 Dec. 2010. .
Devor, Aaron, “Gender Role Behaviors and Attitudes”, Signs of Life in the USA: Readings on Popular Culture for Writers, Ed. John Sullivan III, Boston, Bedford/St. Martin, 2009.567-573.
"Genesis 2:18 - Passage Lookup - King James Version - BibleGateway.com." BibleGateway.com: A Searchable Online Bible in over 100 Versions and 50 Languages. Web. 06 Dec. 2010. .
"Proverbs 31:10-31 - Passage Lookup - New International Version, ©2010 - BibleGateway.com." BibleGateway.com: A Searchable Online Bible in over 100 Versions and 50 Languages. Web. 06 Dec. 2010. .
Sonia Maasik and Jack Solomon, “We’ve Come a Long Way, Maybe: Gender Codes in American Culture,” Signs of Life in the USA: Readings on Popular Culture for Writers, Ed. John Sullivan III, Boston, Bedford/St. Martin, 2009.559-566.
