My Year of Biblical Womanhood

by Rachel Held Evans

This book addresses the fact that taking the Bible literally at face value without considering the contexts and cultures in which it was written, can be quite debilitating for women. I was fortunate enough to grow up in a church that endorsed female Pastors and have not suffered much in regard to sexism, although I’ve always been aware of the possibility and have known it to happen to others. However, this book was no less illuminating, challenging and encouraging for me personally. I discovered that Proverbs 31 is a poem for men to sing in praise of their wives; not a list of expectations for all women. I was given a sense of permission to be an attractive and sexual being without having to have my sexuality all figured out, and without having to be married or a mother to be considered a “woman.” I learned so much about the sufferings of women in other nations and how even the food that I buy could endorse child slavery and poverty in the third world. I am grateful to Rachel for exploring so thoroughly and for, what I feel, are very healthy conclusions.