Amidst a society that puts feminine and masculine traits in clearly defined and separated camps and places unbearable pressure upon girls (and boys) to live up to unachievable standards, it is important to ask-- What does the Bible (and thus the Christian worldview) have to say about femininity? In terms of character/personality, what makes a girl, a girl? In order to answer this question, we must first abandon the preconceived notions we get from the Western social norm, and then look at Genises 2-3. In Genises 2 when Eve is described as Adam's "helper," this word can also be interpreted "completer," "warrior," or "rescuer." We see this role fulfilled in universal femininity (or rather, femininity that is not culture-specific). By generally being more compassionate, emotional, and relational than men, they complete the image of God as displayed in mankind; for men generally embody the justice and strength of God. Also, women are generally "warriors" for their families, especially children. No one would ever dare get between a mother bear and her cub-- similarly, a woman tends to fight for her children.
In Genesis 3, we see the post-fall effects on femininity when, in verse 16, God says, "your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you." To this day, we see that, in marriage it is much easier for a wife to love her husband, and treat him with love, because of this curse at the fall of man, which made a woman's "desire for [her] husband." This desire makes women vulnerable to men-- they "rule" over women in the sense that relationships are often the source of both a woman's greatest pleasure and greatest pain, again, because a woman's desire is for her man. :) It is interesting that the curse at the fall of man takes the woman's tendencies toward relationship and channels them toward an undying desire for her husband that makes her vulnerable.
Through Genesis 2-3, we see that femininity has nothing to do with long eyelashes, painted nails, and high-heels. Femininity is a type of character found only in women that completes mankind's representation of God's image through its relational and compassionate tendencies.
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Maddie, good job. i appreciate your writings and all you add to the class. 25/25
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