Book Review
Liz does an excellent job of identifying numerous ways in which patriarchal societies like the US, still discriminate against women. She contrasts complementarianism and egalitarianism and how even in gender-inclusive spaces, sexism can still rear its head. For example, in college, more of the textbooks used are written by white men, than by women and/or BIPOC. Women are often overlooked for leadership positions, preaching and teaching roles. Women are often showcased for their bodies, their physical appearance, and are often still objectified. There is also a lot of pressure on women’s physical appearance and how they dress, and a lot more commentary to that effect. Women are more easily silenced, branded as emotional or hysterical, even when men have the exact same opinion; men tend to be respected, while women tend to be more frequently dismissed. Men are praised for doing their own laundry, while women are overlooked for doing theirs, and similarly, if a man moves interstate to support his wife’s career, he is highly esteemed, but if a woman moves, she is simply a follower, doing what she is expected to do.
In the second half of her book, Liz addresses how women have been overlooked in Scripture, and God is so often depicted as male rather than female or gender-inclusive. There are some bad-ass women who have not stuck to gender roles in church history, but are often overlooked. When preaching a sermon in which a character’s gender is not described, people tend to assume they are male. She addresses discrimination against black, indigenous and people of color as well as against women. She commends churches that are diverse and inclusive and talks about how this should be the norm. I especially appreciated the chapter about making the decision to leave churches that are discriminating, the chapter about expressing emotion, particularly anger instead of fitting into a gender role, and the chapters about life not being wasted when we take time to rest, to watch Netflix occasionally, to read, to stop and smell the roses or collect seashells. It’s actually healthy not to be productive and perfectionistic all the time!
I recommend reading this book for some real eye-openers about the ways we have overlooked gender discrimination and patriarchy. Society is slowly changing, and still needs a lot more positive change in the direction of gender equity, and inclusion.
