Are Christians generally taught that Feminism is bad?

Question

There's a difference between Feminism and Female Supremacy.

Answer 1

Well, maybe not overtly and it depends on the specific church teachings and demographics. I would say there are definitely more conservative sects that don't allow women to take leadership roles, etc --- are teaching that only males can have leadership roles, thereby undermining feminism. And then there are mormons, jehova's witnesses where there role of women in society is strictly defined denying women equal access/choice and denying them voices within the religious community.

Answer 2

Christians are often taught that feminism is not bad, but that it (like anything else) can be taken too far.

Take the woman on the Colbert Report last night, Linda Hirshman. She believes that women who choose to stay home to manage the household are making the "wrong" choice, not just that it's their own neutral choice, but that it's wrong to do so.

How offensive. My wife chose to stay home once my income would allow it so that she could be there and participate in our kids' education and daily life. This is what I label as Too Much(tm).

We are taught that women and men are different (duh) and are well suited to certain roles. We are also taught that each person and each couple has to make their own choices about how they wish to live, and what they're willing to give up for the lifestyle they choose. If they jointly choose for the woman to stay home, that IS the right choice (sorry, I had to get that out.)

My point is that, in my modern church experience, I was taught that feminism had both good and bad outcomes. Good, because it forced the male-dominated society to look at their assumptions and accept the equality and dignity of the woman as an empowered individual in her own right, without the necessity of a man to make her a whole person. Bad because it presents conflict where there should be none, such as the case above. My wife was very offended by this broad (I tried to resist. I did, I erased and retyped it several times!) because she knows she made the right choice, especially for her and for our kids, and who is this woman to tell her otherwise? If she wanted to go to work, she would go, and on her own terms, not because the horribly misguided Linda Hirshman says she should.

Whoo, what a confluence :)

Answer 3

It depends on what you mean by feminism. I believe that women are spiritually equal in value to men, and I believe that for comparable education and experience they should receive comparable financial remuneration. However, I do not want to be called up in a military draft, and I don't want the fact that I would prefer in the future to have a husband who makes the majority of the income or even all of it (so that I can focus more of my attention on raising children) to be cause for criticism or denigration. Now I would definitely support those who are trying to establish equal educational rights for women in all countries, because an education is invaluable if you are going to be a good mother. I would also support those who are trying to eliminate pornography and related businesses, which comes back to the idea of the dignity of women, as well as men. I would also support international legislation protecting the legal rights of women where "moral" crimes are concerned. When it comes to abortion I am against abortion except in the case of forcible assault or incest. The reason I am against abortion is that I believe in physical accountability for people. Abortion has made it too easy to live outside the bonds of holy marriage and has made children more a matter of convenience rather than true planning and preparation with a foundation of commitment between a man and a woman. I would also come out strongly for teaching more of the benefits of the law of chastity everywhere because both men and women need to know the truth about the blessings of living a law higher than the law of the jungle.
By the way, I want to add that as a Mormon I know several women in high leadership positions who are vocal and accessible to all members of the Church. Gladys Knight, Sheri Dew, and Camille Fronk come to mind right away. I also know composer Janice Kapp Perry has her own company and markets her music all over the world, and she is working on many new projects.

Answer 4

Well that is kind of a complicated q. The roots of Christianity are in Judaism which is a very male dominated religion, in fact the sister religion of Islam. In traditional, fundamentalism Christianity, yes. Women are more of a property home than a human being than a contributing member of the work force. Many women in this situation see it as a kind expression, that they are protected by the stresses of the world.
In today's America, this is rarely the point of view of mainstream, Christians, at least on the surface. The battle for women's rights is still very much a part of main-stream America in general, this includes Christians.

Answer 5

I would guess it depends on how Feminism is defined.

If defined as showing/demonstrating equal status to women and men then Jesus as a feminist. And with that - if Christians are taught feminism is bad then their teachers have not been trained properly or they have not been teaching from the Bible and they have not looked at the history of the times that Jesus lived.

In the time of Jesus, women/girls were not equal - period - that is a well documented both in the Bible and other writings of the time. Jewish men generally did not speak to women in public.
Yet Jesus spoke openly to them, person to person and in front of others (some times in very very large crowds).
Jesus was the first feminist, in that he elevated woman to a status equal of men. He spoke to Jews, to Samaritans (Jews considered them half breeds and thus dirty and unworthy of interaction with - to put it nicely) and to gentiles.

Answer 6

No philosophy is bad unless its aim is to take away from another group or instill some type of superiority. All people are equal and anything that tries to move society toward total equality whether that be sex, religion or race is a move toward the betterment of society. Christianity's foundations is God first, everyone else is equal and should be treated as such.

Answer 7

No. We are taught about our roles within society. The Bible has nothing against women being successful. Heck, Naomi and Ruth sold real estate! The Jewish woman Deborah was a prophetess, military general, and a judge.

And of course, Mary had the biggest job of all. :)

Answer 8

Feminism is not bad, but it is misguided. The sexes were created by God to give comfort to each other. Neither is better than the other. It is sad that the sinfulness of men and women leads them to abuse each other and to fail to appreciate our differences.
Contrary to popular belief, the Bible teaches that men are to treat women as they would the Church, that is, with great love, respect, and reverence. Women are to obey their husbands, but only if they are righteous, God-fearing men.

Answer 9

The bible explicitly says, in MANY places, that women are inferior to men.

So I guess Feminism, which contradicts this, would be considered bad.


Oh well. The bible breeds intolerance. What else is new?

Answer 10

Feminisim is a double edged sword... i believe currently we are in a cycle. If Men took charge and fulfilled their roles as Bread-winner, Husband, taking care of the family financially, offering stability and Respect *due to* his good judgement and ability to make good decisions for the family-----> then Women can take charge and fulfill their roles, which is the Caretaker, Nurture emotionally and support the family, Take care of, Support her husband.

But in society today, we are mixing up those roles.. partly because, and no offense, but i think that men are shirking their roles. there are so many single mothers, who depended on husbands to take care of them, and they were left to fend for themselves. so now the trend is for women to educate themselves, be Strong, Take on the *male* role for ourselves, because we feel that we cannot depend on men to take care of us. That is a HUGE problem, and when i talk w/ my pastor about it, (he thinks feminism was a negative thing, yadayada), i say but what about all those men who cheat, leave their wives, don't take care of their family? and he goes, yeah, that's a problem.... that's why he's always trying to focus on Male roles, cuz once they take responsibility for things, women won't have to try and do Everything; father, mother, wife, husband, etc... she can just be a wife and mother and be taken care of, because she in turn is taking care of the family in a different way.

=T......one day we can change?? hopefully!