Emerging Women

From the Campaign for Gender Equality, written by Ann J. Simonton, Founder and Coordinator of the educational non-profit, Media Watch.

Back in the 70′s the United Nations reported that advertising images of women presented a major stumbling block to their advancement. Today the U.N. continues to report that “the roots of violence to women lie in unequal power relations and the persistent discrimination against women.”

In my university lectures I ask audiences to imagine what it might be like if females were portrayed within the public sphere as fully clothed, diverse, respected contributors to the betterment of society rather than as the ever popular barely clothed, anorexic teen, spread-eagle on a floor staring wide-eyed at the camera seeking approval? I also attempt to help people see the big picture, which can illustrate the huge disconnect between popular image of females depicted within the white, male-dominated corporate media and the global reality of women’s arduous road toward equality, including a right not to be sexually violated and silenced.

The biggest key to getting these rights in our culture is education. Unfortunately the commercial media bombards us with falsehoods that counter education. After a steady diet of Fox News, Gossip Girls, Family Guy and Cathouse, one might easily conclude that women are not exploited – in fact, in many ways, they have it better than men! Women in the media are forever thin and youthful; she is a beauty addict, a lazy welfare queen, a sexualized child, a manipulative bitch, and she will trick men into marriage using her sexuality. Media stories highlight paid escorts and strippers who love their jobs and the prostitute’s image is then imitated by iconic celebrities who appear in film, music videos and advertising. These popular media stories reinforce the status quo, and offer little or no coverage of how this public hatred impacts every woman.

It can be argued males don’t look so good in mainstream media either. But men in the media continue to outnumber women two to one, they can grow old without extraordinary surgical intervention, and they remain the voice and face of authority. Rarely are women in the media seen as a legitimate authority. And, as Clinton’s run for presidency showed us, if she dares to lead, she will be reduced to a whining horror in a pantsuit.

The Power of an Image

Are we waiting for the scientific community to stand in their crisp white lab coats holding clipboards to tell us we are in trouble? It won’t happen. It is very difficult to prove that a person viewing a violent movie or image will predictably and repeatedly behave a certain way. But let’s ask President Obama, who is currently barring images of detainee abuse which include rape and torture. Obama claims that releasing the photos, “would pose an unacceptable risk of danger to U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.” So the government clearly believes that images of one group humiliating and harming another group will incite the enemy and likely cause an “unacceptable risk of danger.” In another example from Catharine Mackinnon’s book, Are Women Human?, we find that during the “international criminal tribunal for Rwanda . . . three media leaders were found guilty of genocide and persecution for broadcasts and publications that impelled the killing of Tutsi and moderate Hutu civilians in the Rwandan genocide of 1994. The point of the ruling was not to find the negative and hateful statements but to prohibit what was done to people as a result of them. Cartoons that sexualized the hate and fear of Tutsi women were linked to their mass rape.”

We do know, after years and volumes of work on the effects of violent media, that the most dangerous type of violent media is when it is realistic, justified, attractive, and/or where acts of violence receive no negative consequence. Continual consumption of violent content over time teaches everyone, including small children, that violence is an accepted way to solve problems. We also know violence in the media increases the risk of viewers behaving aggressively, which is only one of several dozen documentable negative effects. Media studies also confirm that witnessing repeated violent acts can lead to desensitization and a lack of empathy for human suffering. Mainstream media creates the dominant narrative on how violence against women is perceived and how bad this violence can be when it is used as entertainment. A recent study of the Parents Television Council found that in the past 4 years mainstream network television has seen an alarming 120% increase in depictions of violence to women and girls.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

The media is filled with realistic, justified, and attractive images of women’s violation -
which is promoted as a source of sexual arousal for men. A recent content analysis of 50 best-selling adult videos (Wosnitzer & Bridges, 2007) revealed that over 88% of the 304 scenes analyzed showed physical aggression. Seventy percent of the aggressive acts were perpetrated by men. Women were overwhelmingly portrayed as the victims of aggression: 87% of acts were committed against women. By far the most common responses that victims expressed when they were being treated aggressively were either pleasure or neutrality. Less than 5% of the aggressive acts provoked a negative response from the victim; they neither fought back nor requested that the action be stopped. So here we have in a nutshell a combination of the most dangerous types of violent media bound together in a seductive delivery system, available free and anonymous online to everyone 24/7. Unfortunately, this is largely met with silence and inactivity on the part of well-meaning parents and teachers.

Commercial news programs provide little or no context as a results of the harm being done to women and children. News stories of women and girls being murdered and raped are hardly surprising. When a man murders his whole family, the news media often depicts him as the distraught father who lost his job, a quiet neighbor – rather than focusing on the life and dreams of those he kills. The media needs to be reminded that violence to women is a choice men make. Men are taking action, men are committing the crime. Instead we read passively phrased headlines, such as “Woman Raped”, “Woman Attacked” – as if the person who actively committed the crime is irrelevant; why not “Man Rapes” or “Man Attacks”? This small change would be profound.

We Have Work To Do

We could begin with a modest goal – that say 50% of the images that surround us depict diverse women of every race, age, ethnicity, size and economic background, women who stand on their own two feet with a focus on the work they do. Essentially our goal is a realistic portrait of the extraordinary working women in the world today, where none pose for viewer approval.

We aren’t arguing whether an individual has the right to view teens splayed out selling frivolous clothing from Ralph Lauren. We hope to reframe the discussion into a human rights issue and a public health issue. Imagine if we were still arguing about cigarettes from the standpoint of an individual’s right to smoke if they choose to. Of course they do, yet we also have a right to know the impact of those cigarettes on our health and the health of our community. Women are being shoved against a wall – and if we cannot end the pervasive hate speech, we must at the very least flood the wall with images of women’s true value and worth.

For action steps click here.

By Krista Finch

“This, said Joseph to himself, is the one of whom the angel spoke. He dropped to his knees beside the manger. This was the messiah.”
~ Jim Bishop, The Holy Birth

How humbling for Joseph to kneel before the manger of this son Mary had just birthed, a son he had no part of.

How curious that Joseph should call his earthly son King, Holy, Messiah; to know Jesus from the moment of His birth and know Him as the Son of God.

How liberating for Joseph, aware for the first time as he peered over the well-worn feeding trough, that he was beholding the One who would forgive his sin and redeem his soul.

Krista Finch is a wife, mom and author with a passion for finding glimpses of glory in an as-is world. In her recent book, As Is, and on her site KristaFinch.com, she digs into the mundane majesty of life here and now. Krista loves Advent.

By Kirsten Miller

While I was in Chang Mai a few things came easily, like eating Thai food. Greeting the lovely Thai with a bow. Working alongside a new homeowner spreading mortar between bricks.

One thing that did not come easily was prayer.

Perhaps one of the reasons was there was no time for it. We were going from the break of dawn until we collapsed into bed. I thought of Jesus. I missed him. I tried to feel Him in the air, in the mountains…in my body, but I couldn’t.

All the while, I watched my Muslim friends pray behind the storage shed every day.  They made the time. And the space.  As I watched them, envious of their ability to stop and pray in the middle of their work day–I began to notice that our practices–in time and space–to cultivate the presence of God–are crucial to the fueling of the soul.

My practices in Chang Mai were non-existent.

I noticed as the days passed I was feeling more dark, and more separated from my connection to God. I missed my piano, my chair, and my walks in the woods where I experience God’s presence.

I tried to pray here and there…to practice the presence of the Lord when I could, amidst the busy-ness… but to no avail.

By the end of our trip, I was sure God simply didn’t live in Chang Mai.

Until our last day.

As a final hurrah, my husband and I decided to go on a hike in the mountains. We traveled a trail that was very steep and treacherous at times complete with brambles and skinny ledges. We were guided by a small strong man named Bon, who wore flip flops. He blazed the trail like a gazelle while we panted and struggled to keep up. The hike lasted close to five hours. Towards the end of the journey, our legs were burning and jello-like.

As were coming back down the mountain, we passed another group that had been trekking for three days.  They had picked up a stray dog that had become a part of their group.

As we passed, they stopped us and asked us if we would look after the dog. They were heading toward a village that eats dogs.

But of course. Our guide agrees. This is the way we do things; trekking up and down mountains, passing dogs from one group to the next.

So the other group kept walking and left the dog with us. With no leash, of course. Our guide called the dog, Come! But it sat and lay down. We tried coaxing the dog with cookies. No go. The dog kept turning round to look for the old pack, oblivious to the danger that lay before him. After more pulling and prodding and more bribing, our guide stooped down and picked up the dog.

And he carried that dog down the mountain like a baby.

When I think about it, I smile.

I just couldn’t seem to get to Him during that trip.

Instead, he came to me, in the form of a small Thai mountain man.

Looking back now I can see how savior-like our little mountain guide was that day. Leading us on the narrow path.  Bringing us from the darkness of the jungle into the light of day…and rescuing that dog from danger.

And I thought God didn’t live in Chang Mai.

Kirsten is a writer, worship leader and psychotherapist in the Atlanta area. For Advent prayers and musings, follow her writings at sacredliving.info.

By Julie Clawson

At church this past Sunday we were encouraged to find ways to see the world differently this week.  Change our routine and change our perspective to help us get out of the rut of going through life without actually seeing the world.  To that end we were asked to draw a slip of paper out of a basket on which was written some sort of paradigm destabilizer.  These were just suggestion to help us shake things up a bit – and force us to just do life a little differently.  These included everything from “take a new route to work” to “put your fork down between bites.”  The one I drew was “imagine that Jesus had been born a girl.”  I was amused at first that I had randomly chosen that particular option since I doubted that task would destabilize my perspective as much as it might someone else’s.  But the idea has stuck with me over the last few days as I keep asking, “well, what if?”

The first thought that came to mind was, “would Jesus have even of been born if he had been a girl?”  In a culture that valued sons, I wonder what Joseph’s response would have been if the angel hadn’t told him “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”   The birth of sons was celebrated.  But if Joseph had known the child in Mary’s womb was a girl would he have gone ahead and divorced her quietly condemning her and the child to a life of abject poverty and ridicule?  Or would he have exposed her as an adulterer to have her stoned? Throughout history we have seen women valued solely for their ability to bear male heirs.  Henry VIII chopped the heads off a couple of wives for only bearing him daughters.  Even today one hears of women apologizing in the delivery room for the baby not being a boy.  So I have to wonder if even a divine announcement would have been enough to save the life of an illegitimate girl.

But if she had been born, I wonder what the response would have been.  Would the shepherds have scoffed at a baby girl in swaddling clothes and grumbled at having to leave their flocks in the night for that?  Would the magi have questioned the stars, or understood the mystery at play?  Would Herod have felt threatened by a girl and have ordered the slaughter of the innocents?  And would her parents, some years later, marry her off at age 12 to be perpetually pregnant and too busy save the world? Or would they have remembered their angelic visitation and the prophetic destiny spoken about this child?

But let’s just assume that this girl reached a point where she could chose to begin her ministry.  Would the truth of her words and the divinity within her be enough to attract followers despite her gender?  In other words would something as minor as gender be enough for people to reject God’s invitation to “come follow me”? Would her mother, who prophetically sung the Magnificat, have hushed her up and told her “girls don’t discuss theology?”  If she sat on the mountainside and spoke the Beatitudes to the crowds would her words be affirmed as a beautiful new way forward or dismissed as the rantings of a crazy woman who was probably pmsing?  Would men have seen an independent woman as vulnerable and used that as an excuse to rape her?   To avoid that would she have had to (like Joan of Arc) chop off her hair and dress in men’s clothing – in essence deny that she is a women in order to be respected as a person? Would the authorities have even allowed her three years to spread her message, or would silencing a woman for subversion and heresy have happened much sooner?

On one hand these questions might just seem to affirm why Jesus had to be born male.  But making that assumption from either an essentialist or cultural viewpoint simply helps one avoid examining our own perspectives towards women.  Even as I reflected on the particular struggles Jesus would have faced if he had been born a girl, I couldn’t help but also think about the positive outcomes it would have engendered.  If the person we commit our lives to follow and who sacrificed herself on our behalf was a woman I can’t help but think that would have significantly impacted how we have perceived and treated women for the last 2000 years.  If the founder of the church was a woman, then perhaps a patriarchy wouldn’t have developed that effectively shut out and silenced the spiritual voice of women.  If the body of a woman savior was treasured as sacrament, then perhaps the bodies of women would not have been so degraded, abused, and despised over the years.  If for 2000 years women hadn’t lived in oppression, silence, and fear I wonder how much our collective input would have changed history.  Would we have allowed the posturing and pissing contests of men to nearly destroy the world in wars?  Would we have allowed nature to be oppressed and raped instead of cultivated and cared for?  And would the Kingdom of God be that much more vibrant and alive today if during that time it had been impossible to forget the feminine side of God or to muzzle the spiritual insight of half the church?

These are all hypothetical questions of course.  But just the asking can be the first step in destabilizing paradigms. The historical truth of Jesus being born a girl matters less than how asking the question can move us towards living like it was.

Crossposted from onehandclapping