This past week at SWF we had professor and author Dr. Bryan Litfin come and speak to us on the topic of "warrior maidens." It certainly was an interesting and informative topic as he looked at all the various ways in which pop culture has been indicative of the culture. He began the pop culture journey during the early 20th century when women were viewed as frail and used as objects of beauty. As ideas in the culture have shifted to try and place women on level playing ground with men we have also seen a shift in pop culture to display women through media as strong and independent. However, what are we sacrificing for "gender equality?" Watch this first clip.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53q-3PuVC90
This is the 1933 version of King Kong which is a prime example portraying the woman as poor and defenseless and in need of a man to come to her rescue. She is a damsel in distress. This idea is clearly so far from our 21st century frame of reference and as Dr. Litfin would say and most of us agree for good reason. Women are not defenseless and left to flail in the arms of a superior waiting for men to come to her rescue. This is not who we want to be and who we believe women to be. Now, take a look at this clip.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5V1CYpdpjc
At first glance, Wonder Woman may seem to be a large improvement from the old and severely outdated portrayal of women in King Kong. However, the issues with this go far beyond what meets the eye. In an effort to portray women as being able to do everything that men can do (and perhaps even better) we have successfully stripped men from their role as God created him. Man is no longer the one who is strong with life force but instead is now weak and inferior. Notice in the clip when Wonder Woman stops the man's gun. She doesn't simply block the bullet, but she must "bend" the "barrel." This is clearly sexual innuendo making the statement that not only can women do everything a man can, actually we no longer even need men.
For us as growing as Christian women and many of us in the future teaching our daughters how to live as Christian women, this is particularly dangerous ground. The reality is that when we strip the man of everything that makes him what he is, we are left with a family model that does not match up to Scripture. In an effort to make women seem strong we have sacrificed the very nature of the man. What if instead of demeaning men in our lives and belittling what God has made them to be, we celebrated the men in our lives who lead us with strength and courage and pray for them to be that?
However, that leaves us asking then, what is the place of women? If Wonder Woman is off base then maybe we are just damsels in distress waiting and needing men to save us. To answer that, here's one last clip.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-ysr5AZrDc
In this video, Eowyn from the "Lord of the Rings" series gives a great example of what a strong woman is and the male lead in this scene, Aragorn, also says some beautiful words that can teach us something. The biggest thing to learn from this video is how much Aragorn supports and encourages Eowyn. He reminds her who she is and what she is capable of. "You are the daughter of kings...a shield-maiden of Rohan!"
He doesn't command her to stay home because she is a woman but says to come along side of him and they will fight together. This is a lesson for all of the husbands that we women represent at SWF. Men should be for us. They should encourage us, reminds us who we are, and tell us to come along side of him. We as men and women of the faith are Sons and Daughters of the King, each with wonderful things to gift each other with. Men, lead your wives with courage, give them dignity and respect, and remind them of who they are. Women, don't allow our culture to convince us we no longer need men. Pray that God would allow your husband to be the type of man you want to follow and celebrate all that makes him who he is. Pray that men everywhere in churches would rise to that Scriptural call.
In the end Eowyn states in the face of her adversary, that "she is no man." When watching this as a woman we feel a certain level of joy when she says this statement. That's right, ladies, we are no man. We are strong and capable of great things. We can kick butt! Yet to be this doesn't mean we need to emasculate the men in our lives and world. We can honor both genders.
For some more resources on the idea of "warrior-maidens" and good examples of strong women, check out:
-Judges 4-5, the story of Jael
-Dr. Litfin's fiction series that includes a female character, Anastasia, which he created to reflect the values of a godly and strong woman
http://www.amazon.com/Chiveis-Trilogy-3-Book-Set/dp/1433533731/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1431005852&sr=8-3&keywords=bryan+litfin+chiveis
Love,
Amy
