Intersectional Feminism

on being Christian and Feminist.

Sometime in January, when the world had not turned on its head and we could still enjoy the beauty of physical fellowship and diverse expressions of worship, I wore a shirt that had “feminish” written on it to church and when someone in the church asked me if I identify as a feminist, I said I identify as a Christian and that this drives my belief in gender equality and women’s rights. Funmi, a woman in the church I admire, was part of that conversation and she said “I am a feminist and my faith in Christ drives my feminism”.

I went home to think long and hard on that and I realized that while as Christians our perfect identity is Christ, my refusal to admit to the person in the church who asked if I was a feminist is because of the stigma that is often associated with being Christian and feminist.

Christian feminists face this stigma from both sides. Within the church, feminists are often vilified as teachings on how women are meant to submit to their husbands, and to take the backseat in several conversations are pushed. Within feminist spaces, every time a pastor or Christian comes online to talk about women being submissive (where submission often means accepting oppression and subjugation) or women playing second fiddle, non-Christian feminists go after Christian feminists accusing them of having to do mental gymnastics to remain Christian and feminist. You even hear things like “you cannot be Christian and feminist” within feminist circles, effectively othering women whose only crime is having an identity in the Christ who exhibited no gender bias.

It was easy for me to allow the stigma associated with this to prevent me from admitting that I am a feminist. I just wanted to do my activism and still be within the Christian circles with no labels attached.

However, what Funmi said stuck with me and made me rethink my position. It made me search deeper into the Christianity I claimed made it easy for me to believe in gender equality and it made it possible for me to identify as a Christian who is feminist because while my feminism is an aspect of my life, my identity in Christ is the totality of my life.

In my search, I turned to the perfect template for viewing all things Christian, the life of Christ. I examined his encounters with women and I realized one recurring theme; a lack of the typical misogyny people exhibit when they claim to be following the instructions of Christ.

Take for example the story of the woman who was dragged to Jesus for adultery. It was misogyny that made these men drag her there because adultery takes two, and only one person was being judged. While there is a lesson to be learned in not condemning people, there is a feminist lesson to be learned in not slut-shaming women, something that has become a pillar of misogyny.

Another example is the case of the woman at the well. First, she was a Samaritan, this meant that she was an “other”. Second, she was a woman who had had five husbands and the man she was living with was not her husband. Misogyny would abandon offering the message of grace to her and would focus on her relationships. Some slut-shaming and mockery about an inability to keep a man would be thrown into the mix. However, Jesus only mentioned her relationships to show her how well he knew her.

Then, he moved on and offered her eternal water. He did not even tell her that he was offering her water because of her relationship issues. He was simply offering the same water of life he offered to the supposedly pious people to her. What is even more interesting is that he let her be a witness to him immediately, drawing other people to hear from him. This point is important to point out because, in Christian circles, we are often quick to talk about how grace makes people whole and yet still refuse to give them opportunities to show their wholeness and grow in their wholeness. We are quick to make them feel like they are undeserving of expressing their wholeness or even being proper witnesses for Christ till they have stayed long in the church.

Yet another example is the example of the woman who was considered a prostitute who Jesus allowed to break her alabaster box on him, wipe his feet, and generally love up on him. He knew people would question him for this but at that moment he was showing us that he did not discriminate against women.

One other example I love so much is the story of Mary and Martha. When Martha reported Mary to Jesus because Martha was busying herself in the kitchen while Mary sat at the feet of Jesus learning and discussing with him, Martha expected that Jesus would respond with typical male misogyny especially because it involved him being waited on. She expected him to scold Mary and send her off to the kitchen. However, instead of focusing on the misogyny expected of him, he used that situation to teach an important lesson on the things that matter.

All through the life of Jesus, we see him standing up for women when the misogynistic thing to do would be to throw them under the bus. We see him uplifting women when the misogynistic thing to do would be to tear them down and make them feel worthless, which would make them desire salvation and beg for it. Jesus offered a grace that did not debase or degrade women. If we are to be Christians walking in the footsteps of Jesus, this is the exact same grace we should promote and advocate for.

Now, let me address where people often draw your admonitions to women from; Paul’s teachings. What is interesting in this is that Christians who should look to Christ as their template for equality, turn to Paul when they cannot find a Christ-inspired reason to promote inequality.

Paul’s teachings are like your pastor’s teachings, and your pastor is a human prone to personal and cultural biases. What this means is that, just as your pastor can teach you the truth mixed with his personal biases, Paul’s teachings can do so too. This is an important place to start from when processing Paul’s teachings. You also need to understand that Paul’s teachings were contextual and that some of them were rooted in the prevailing culture of the time.

Now, let us examine some of his teachings that have been used to promote misogyny.

In a letter to Timothy purportedly written by Paul (I use “purportedly” here because the real author of the books of the bible referred to as the pastoral letters which include 1st and 2nd Timothy as well as Titus is not completely known. Hence, they are referred to as Pseudepigrapha), Paul said “A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet.” — 1 Timothy‬ ‭2:11–12‬ ‭NIV‬‬

First, note that Paul did not say “God” said. Paul used “I”. This was him acknowledging his personal bias against women which he justified with the idea that Adam was created before Eve and that Eve misled Adam. This bias is not in line with new creation realities in Christ which Paul himself made clear in a letter to the Galatians: “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” — Galatians‬ ‭3:28‬ ‭NIV‬‬

So, if in Christ we are all equal and this has been exemplified in Christ’s life as seen in the gospels, why are you taking a pastoral letter we are not even sure was written by Paul as the standard instead of Christ?

A second teaching that has been used by people to promote the subjugation of women is Paul’s teaching of submitting to husbands contained in Ephesians 5:23. Since we have established Paul’s personal bias, let us take a closer look at Ephesians 5 from verse 21 to verse 32.

Verse 21 starts with a call to mutual submission. This is interesting because it appears the people who often use Ephesians 5 as a club to beat down women are conveniently blind to verse 21. As you read through the other verses, while his bias seeps through in parts of it, we are actually seeing Paul tell men what their own part is in this submission business. Their own part in this submission business is to offer themselves up and to love their wives as Christ loves the church, which is to constantly and continuously advocate for their wives, give themselves up for their wives, and to constantly serve their wives. People rarely use these parts as talking points in this whole submission business. We rarely see teachings and seminars on how men should engage this submission business and this is a product of misogyny that is not Christ-like.

I understand how this has become the norm because beyond misogyny, many Christians, particularly African Christians, were raised with the concept of a Christ who restricts them and prevents them from truly living. They do not fully understand what it means that Christ came to earth, served us, gave up himself for us, and ascended to heaven to still serve us by constantly advocating for us before God. Christ loves us through service. So if we really want to do this submission business, husbands are to love their wives through service and to be honest, through the world’s lens today, the ones who serve like Christ are actually the submissive ones.

It is possible to be Christian and feminist. Being Christian is being like Christ; the Christ who did not introduce misogyny in situations were it was expected of him, the Christ who loved women and offered them equal grace as everyone else and did not expect them to redeem themselves the way the world expects women to put in extra work to be deserving of simple human dignity and respect. We are Christians not Paulians and Christ is the template not Paul and whatever personal biases he may have had.

Let me end with something that helps me get through anytime I am questioning my desire to fight injustice while holding onto my faith, especially when people within the faith make it seem like I am wrong for fighting that injustice. I turn to 1st Corinthians 13:6 in the Amplified Bible Translation, and as I read “It does not rejoice at injustice but rejoices with the truth [when right and truth prevail]” with reference to love, I am reminded that if the bible says that God (Christ) is love and I am like Christ, then love is my identity, and this means that I am also called to be against injustice.

Misogyny is an injustice to women. My Christ-like nature makes me against that injustice. If being against that injustice is being feminist, I am a Christian feminist.

Chinwendu Nwangwa is a writer and wandering storyteller who likes to share her thoughts and perspectives with others she meets along her life’s journey.