Equality tested: How feminism creates strife

Anything that hurts men will hurt women, and anything that hurts women will hurt men. This being said, the interests of men and women go hand in hand and should never be at odds with one another. In this place and time, though, women are being subjected to a movement that harms them and, in turn, the men around them. This movement is feminism, which is defined by Merriam-Webster as the “belief in and advocacy of the political, economic and social equality of the sexes expressed especially through organized activity on behalf of women’s rights and interests.”

In the late 1800s, the feminist movement began as a means for women to be heard amid the oppression they faced. As Pacific University’s Martha Rampton pointed out, “In its early stages, feminism was interrelated with the temperance and abolitionists movements and gave a voice to now-famous activists like the African American Sojourner Truth.”

This stage of feminism would later be called “first wave feminism.” Three other waves would follow, each becoming more entrenched in nihilistic ideology, and less concerned with the general sentiment of average women. Even the word “feminism” as it was defined, has become an unfit description for the movements’ modern waves.

The most recent phase of feminism is “fourth wave feminism.” According to Britannica, this movement largely began in 2012, being driven by the #MeToo movement and later by the Harvey Weinstein allegations, abortion advocates and the burgeoning “men’s rights” movement. In the years following, fourth wave feminism has lost much of its traction due to many women feeling that their beliefs are not truly represented by the often-misleading agendas of what was called an attempt at equality. Often, the movement is now seen as a man-hating, left-wing scheme aimed at the destruction of masculinity.

The truth must not be mistaken: Fourth wave feminism is not helping anyone. It is, rather, a reaction to a history that has been unkind to women. Though the trials of former feminist factions have aided women when it comes to the struggle for equality, the current trend is not modeled after these efforts in the slightest. This new movement downplays the unique God-given qualities that women are blessed with, and trades them for manufactured ideology, rooted in the pity of unbelief.   

Women need not be enamored with modern philosophies with which to assume value. The Son of God died and was resurrected not just for his own brothers, but for his sisters just the same. The search for equality in this age must be one fueled by the desire to treat one another as co-heirs to the grace of God (1 Peter 3:7). In doing this, the love of Christ can be shown to those who thirst for what is just and true. We must not allow the truth-twisting nature of the world to contaminate what is true about our relationship to one another as we live to be examples to those who hunger for actual equality.   

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). If it is to be believed that Jesus loves and cares for his children, then violating the biblical bounds within which we are meant to live can only mean reliance on man-made ideals, which have been shown to fail time and again. Feminism is ineffective, not because it is a movement for the interests of many women, but because it is a creation of humanity. And just as all things, it will soon be replaced by the equality of the only judge who understands equality in the fullest.  

by a Guest Contributor