People sometimes ask me if I considered myself a feminist. I don't like this question because the word has too many definitions for a straight answer, especially for someone who primarily identifies herself as a Christian. I have stayed clear of the label and the older I get, the more strongly I avoid it. But I do passionately care about the unique issues women face and am proud of our ability to openly discuss and debate these issues as independent beings made in God's image.
Our current ownership of the debate concerning womanhood, femininity, image, body, etc. is an amazing gift from the Creator after millennia of being the silent sex. I am impressed by these times in the West; women finally have education, financial independence, freedom from many forms of physical marring and deformity, abundant legal rights, and most importantly, our own voice. Never before have women held so much power.
But power is a cheating seducer. With sweet promises of fulfillment, freedom, and safety, women's empowerment led us to believe all can be made right. It did not, however, tell us about the loneliness, frustration, and compromise it would require in return. Where once womanhood was personified by heroines who sought escape from the doldrums of an uneducated and dependent existence, today's TV shows, movies, and literature depict women who can say and do as much as they want, but are plagued by an abysmal void within and isolation from true community without.
Both the secular and Christian conversations concerning womanhood have centered on rights and actions. We love to make issues black and white by discussing a person's given or denied ability to do something. What is not frequently discussed are attributes. We want to know what women can do, but forget to think about who women should to be. Of course, the two cannot be entirely separated. Who a person is will inform their actions and vice versa. But I believe this focus on female action is what has given women the freedom and ownership they now enjoy, while the neglect of thoughtful consideration towards character has in part lent a hand to the lonely aimlessness now plaguing women.
As I struggled in college with questions concerning femininity and womanhood, I came across Psalm 144:12. The second part of the verse reads, "...and our daughters will be like pillars, carved to adorn a palace..." I have not heard a more poetic description of God's view of womanhood. David is describing a time of rich blessing in the country and along with bountiful food, peaceful streets, and strapping young men, he writes this description of blessed women.
Why do I like it? First, the daughters are described as pillars. They are strong and unbreakable. They are admired for their ability, not for their weakness, which affirms the achievements and progress women have made in society. But second, the purpose these women are given is for the palace. They are not made to be alone; they don't function self-sufficiently. Rather, they are made to support the larger structure and faithfully lend it their individual strength. We are made to live in and for community and the modern woman needs to rethink her agenda if it excludes all but her own independent life.
Finally, we come to the name of this blog, my favorite part, "carved to adorn." Another translation uses the word "cut," another "sculptured," and yet another "hewn." These words do not imply an easy process for the pillar. It is not sheltered, nor is it pampered. Under the hands of a Craftsman, the pillar is put through a process that involves difficulty and struggle. But in the end, the pillar is beautiful, designed to display its hard won beauty for the delight of all who see the palace.
Women, God has created us to be strong. It is how he has made us. God created us to live in relationship, to use our strength for the "structures" we belong to, not for our own sakes. God carves each of us by giving us experiences, gifts, and trials. He gives us these that we might be a delight to those around us. We are carved to adorn...
~Hannah
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