More and more, Christian women are beginning to talk about Feminism, but what does it mean in the context of our faith tradition?
I grew up Evangelical in South Texas, so even though I heard the word patriarchy 1,000 times, I never knew what it meant, and I knew better than to try and find out.
I didn’t want to be one of those women.
I learned a little bit in college about the social movement of Feminism, but in 34 years, no one taught me that the influence of patriarchy on my faith tradition determined how I related to God.
My faith practices were the product of my upbringing and my ignorance.
But after reading Sue Monk Kidd’s The Dance of the Dissident Daughter in the summer of 2024, I felt the need to shout it from the rooftops:
I knew something was missing!
Her book was the perfect introduction to the topic, giving the reader a look into her experiences and exploration.
Sue taught me about how patriarchy affected the formation of Christianity, which led to the devaluation of the Feminine while masculine expressions of faith were prioritized and considered superior.
In fact, I didn’t even know there was a difference between masculine and feminine expressions of spirituality, but Sue explained it clearly:
“Often competitiveness, logic, objectivity, and matters of the head have found preeminence over concerns with inclusiveness, relatedness, or matters of the heart.
I recognized the imbalance in the way dogma, theological rightness, triumph of the “Christian way,” oratorical sermons, church business, nationalism, individual pursuit, conversion figures, and breaking scripture down into its various hermeneutics have frequently been valued over feelings, tears, peace, gentleness, group consciousness, and gathering humanity together as a family…”
I tried to imagine a church where it mattered less what your beliefs and practices were and more how relationships were nurtured and healed.”
Sue taught me that, while men and women might gravitate toward a more masculine or feminine expression of their own spirituality, this inclination is independent of gender. Our personalities, religious histories, and exposure play a role in how we relate to God.
And while this is not a gendered discussion—even men have been taught to devalue the Feminine within themselves—this history has largely impacted women.
If you are new to this topic, there are more anchored and brilliant women weighing in now, like Sarah Bessey, Savala Nolan, and Chelsea Kim Long.
The Feminine is making a comeback, and Christian women are listening.
Because we knew something was missing.
There was an era before patriarchy, and there will be an era after it.
As our world continues to shift egalitarian, as women are seen as equally human, equally valuable, equally loved and cherished by God, more women will tell their stories, lead movements, and spark change, and the patriarchal system will not hold.
In its place, masculine and feminine forms of spirituality will be equally embraced, and our spiritual lives will be enriched in a way that I believe could spark a revolution that might reverse the ever-declining number of those in the next generations refusing religious association altogether.
When we finally humanize the feminine in a way that has been avoided, disgraced, and even forbidden, we’ll open doors to the young people who assumed our faith tradition had nothing for them.
This understanding will cast a wider net and help more of us embrace a fuller experience of what faith, religion, and spirituality could be.
Masculine expressions prioritize dogma, logic, and objective matters of the head.
Feminine expressions are inclusive, feeling, and relational matters of the heart.
They both serve a purpose, and one is not greater than the other.
The focus of church history and theological degrees have been around masculine expressions of Christianity, and while these expressions aren’t inherently wrong, many have been to the utter neglect of the feminine.
But spiritual and religious landscapes are changing.
For those who have decided faith is still worthwhile, it doesn’t look the same.
If the church doesn’t embrace the changing tide and become more inclusive, they will lose more of us.
This masculine-leaning system of values is not working anywhere, and the evidence is everywhere, from the decline in religious association to political polarization to the ever-increasing wage disparity.
But there is a Christianity that includes all of our experiences, the masculine and the feminine, and it is richer and deeper, and it will draw people in from the outside.
This new Christianity will mobilize and captivate a new generation that knows:
It is only good news if it is good news for everyone.
The Christian focus on organization, events, and conversions has grown stale, and although they are necessary to grow, they will wither without the prioritization of peace, consciousness, and relationships. Like Sue wrote, “I tried to imagine a church where it mattered less what your beliefs and practices were and more how relationships were nurtured and healed.”
Churches that refuse this egalitarian shift will die off with the patriarchy.
It’s happened before.
The Church Fathers in the first centuries of Christianity who held out that women didn’t have souls to save died, and their beliefs died with them.
The church leaders who held out that slavery was ordained by God died, and their beliefs died with them.
In the same way, those who believe that women are inferior and that masculine expressions are the primary way to be a Christian will die, and their beliefs will die with them.
We have so much to learn about feminine spirituality, the earth and dirt and body of our faith.
We’ll overcorrect before we come back to the middle, but it is a necessary course correction. Every first step is a bold one.
The next era of Christianity is feminine.