Are women as valued as men in churches?
Many people apparently think that calling women guys doesn’t matter. Some of the people to whom I say “I’m not a guy” insist that “guys” applies to everyone. That’s the same claim that we heard in the church and elsewhere for years, about using only masculine pronouns to refer to everyone from God all the way down. That claim has come—and unfortunately still comes—not just from many men but also from some women, and it’s wrong.
Using masculine pronouns for groups that include both men and women makes the women invisible, in effect. It says they don’t matter enough to mention. Most importantly, it engraves this mistaken impression into us at an unconscious level where its effect is especially powerful because we’re not aware of it.
That’s what also happens when we use only masculine pronouns for God or use only masculine titles like Lord and King. Largely without realizing what is happening, we get the impression that God is male, which in effect says that being male is infinitely more valuable than being female. And this usage, especially when it is combined with seeing the man Jesus as uniquely divine, as so many Christians do, often contributes to believing that only men are entitled to represent God officially in the church, as some Christian denominations still claim.
We quote scriptures saying there is neither male nor female in Christ, but our churches’ actions often give a very different message. Women, like men, are made in God’s image, and about 60% of church members and more than 50% of the U.S. population are female, yet many Christians refuse to give women their rightful place in the church and the world. We’ve made progress, but we still have a long way to go. It’s time to discard traditions that put women down or make them invisible. It’s time for more Christians to wake up, to speak up, and to refuse to give up until the changes God is calling us to make have become a reality.
Fortunately, some aspects of how women are treated— especially women in generations younger than mine—have improved in recent years, but I find that most of what I wrote years ago still applies. It applies especially in the church, and it applies especially to how we talk about God.
What pronouns imply.
Many people now realize that using “he” and other masculine pronouns to refer to women is inappropriate, but that same realization about the word “guy” apparently hasn’t yet dawned very widely. Calling everyone a guy is mainly a current habit, I realize, but it’s harmful. It’s also unnecessary. Why not just say “you” instead of “you guys” or “you ladies”? Why can’t waiters say, “Where would you like to sit?” “Are you ready to order?” “Do you need anything else?” That seems so simple, and it would be so much kinder. It would acknowledge that women exist and that they’re just as capable and valuable as men.
Read the full article here.I continue my article by addressing why I believe God is not male, and what pronouns imply.
