A Christian Feminist**********

So, I've been thinking... (yes, you should exit now if this scares you, and I'm not saying it shouldn't.)

My minor is Women's Studies.  (This is another opportunity for you to bail.) I am really glad I did not choose it as my major, as it has not given me a lot of practical applications for jobs.  I am sick to death that all the discussions in every class end up being about the same thing, never new and fresh.  There are things about me that card-carrying feminists hate. More on that in a bit.

In my last required Women's Studies class we are going back and reading the First Wave, old classics.  LOVE IT! These are the things that made me interested in this minor in the first place.  Women REALLY were discriminated against.  Did you know that women, in this country, could not legally keep the wages they earned outside their home? If they wanted to leave an abusive husband, they had to do so illegally, and with NOTHING, not their children (legal custody was the husband's), not any clothing but what they were wearing.

The other thing I am realizing is that many of these early feminists were Christians.  Women who brought Scripture into their arguments and sought God's will. Christianity and feminism generally do not go hand in hand these days.

And then it kind of dawned on me.  Jaime, I think I do have something to say.

It irritates me when feminists disqualify women who are pro-life, or stay-at-home-moms, or Christian (or really devout in many faiths), or for some even married.  It is not the spirit of real feminism. Feminism is about every woman being able to live the best version of themselves.

So how is that incompatible with Christianity?  Shouldn't we be concerned with everyone living out God's best version of themselves?  Believe me, I KNOW all the reasons that Christians keep a distance from feminism and vice versa. It makes me very unpopular in my WST classes.  And I do understand how some of the same old feminist arguments seem worn out in the United States, 2011.  But there are women all around the world who live in US circa 1880 conditions.  Wouldn't God want us to fight for those widows and orphans?

So I taking on an identity as a Christian Feminist. Though I'm not sure God wants me to wear any "-ist," "-arian" or "ian" title: I'm willing to explore that. Whatever that means, it definitely means I don't have all the answers. But they never do in all those Women's Studies classes anyway.  Everyone just sits around and discusses.  Really, though, where is the line between fighting for rights and submitting to God's will? Humility and righteous anger? Though voting is as natural to me as breathing, many church leaders told women they were going against God by desiring to vote.  The church isn't always right.  Feminists aren't always right.  Both try to sincerely address the issues of the hour.  Does anyone want to talk about that?

Like I said, I've been thinking, and wondering if there is anyone out there who would like to have these discussions.  I'm considering starting an adjacent blog, because I don't want to subject unwilling victims.  I only want to engage people who think this sounds interesting.  How do pieces like fashion and education fit into the puzzle? How and where is God moving?

I had a strong memory last night of my friend Tashmica and I in the baby stages of our friendship making a kind of pact to help each other fight injustice.  In retrospect, I am certain that was one of those moments in life when everything changes.  It was for me. So in the spirit of a strange blend of 2 current influences in my life, WST 481 & John Ortberg's "The Me I Want to Be"  I am asking for your response: anybody interested?