Tuesday, January 19, 2010

I have not been liberated.

Last night at Hobbie Talk, we discussed women: how they were treated in the Bible, how they were and are treated by the Church, how society views women.
In this discourse, the subject of the Vagina Monologues came up. A group of students from the college are putting on the annual production of the collection of monologues celebrating the vagina (shock!) soon, and auditions are this week.
I am normally quite the prude. I always thought that I was very conservative, maybe just a little insecure. Now I realize it's because I've been trapped for most of my life, hiding secrets and shames and not telling anyone. This is one of the many things that the Vagina Monologues addresses.
I have finally realized that for years and years, I have allowed society and tradition to dictate some of my most fundamental beliefs. Like that God is a man. I'm not about to start referring to God as a chick, but why do I see God as this huge man with a beard hugging the earth? Why do I give God that masculine image? Why has it NEVER offended me? Why has it not hurt me that God, who is characterized as a mother NUMEROUS times in Scripture, has been constantly referred to as a male?
Why is it that it has never bothered me, and I have never questioned, that humans are referred to as "all men", rather than simply "all humans"? Don't tell me that it's because "all men" is shorter to write or say. History shows us that brevity wasn't favored by the great minds and writers of the past. Proof is in the mass of reading that I have to do for Philosophy, easily 100 pages on trying to use a logical equation to prove that God exists. It can be written in under 100 pages, peeps. Trust me.

Why is it that rape isn't always considered a violent crime? Why is it JUST a sex crime? Does everyone realize that the psychological mindset of the rapist isn't to have sex for pleasure but to overpower the victim? It's like calling assault a party foul. "But normally guys wrestle for fun. This one just got out of hand."

Sound ridiculous? I thought so.

So now that my religious sabbatical is over and me and Jesus and my vocation are tight and in a stable loving relationship, I'm going to liberate myself as a woman. I'm going to celebrate the fact that God made me a woman and all of the intricacies that go with womanhood. I'm in for a beautiful journey, and I encourage you to make it with me.
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