The F Word.

Today was the first Sunday for the new pastor at the church I attend. It also marks the first time that church has had a female pastor in its 167 year history. It also marks the first time I have attended a church with a female pastor. She was positive, straight-forward, and spoke as if God’s love naturally poured out of her.
For the first time in a while, my heart felt light in church.  For the first time in a while, I felt comfortable in the pew and content after the service. For the first time in a while, I saw a person in the pulpit that I felt I could talk to without judgement, even with uncomfortable topics. And that was just after one sermon.
So, naturally after that revelation, I decide to post a little message of my own. Today’s post is brought to you by the letter F...for Feminism.
I was raised by a family of strong women and by men who did not try to silence or squelch them. I was raised by men and women that told me that I, as a woman, could be anything I wanted to be. I was also raised in a church denomination that started and did many great and positive things for my Christian walk. However, they also told me I, as a woman, could be anything I wanted to be...as long as it was not a religious position over a man, a deacon, or a pastor. This, honestly, still perplexes me to this day. I do not understand how someone’s spiritual authority and calling can be questioned simply on the criteria of what reproductive organs they have.
I’ve heard the excuse that women don't make good leaders because they are "emotional." Our new pastor told us today that the church is a place to feel and express the versatile range of emotions that God blesses us with whether that be laughter, tears, even anger. Why can’t that be the way for society in general?  People as a whole, but ESPECIALLY women, spend far too much time apologizing for simply feeling something that is off the Social Media Happiness Appearance Spectrum. Apologies have their own appropriate time and use, but we should not feel as though we need to whip them out simply for feeling...feelings. The name says it all. No assembly, judgment, or embarrassment required.
Speaking of names and meanings, I used to be scared of the title “feminist” because of the implications that seemed to go with it. I used to think that “feminist” meant a woman that refused tasks that were even remotely feminine or marched in protests or didn’t shave their armpits. There is nothing wrong with expressing feminism in any of these ways, they are just not “me.” Then I realized that it is not about how you express it, just in the message and belief behind it. One in an equal playing field and equal opportunities. One in gender blindness and individual capabilities. One in strength without sacrificing femininity. One in feeling safe and not scared. One in being heard.
So what’s the point of feminism? Of being a feminist? I mean women can vote. We can be doctors, lawyers, etc. It seems we have come a long way, right?
My mother told me about an article a colleague sent her that spoke of how female pastors get lewd and sometimes sexual messages from male members of their congregations. Things like “sometimes I think about what’s under your robe when you’re up there.” The frequency of these occurrences is surprising to say the least. There’s a point.
Only a few days ago, I saw a local news article which said a high school employee was arrested for sexual misconduct with a student and voyeurism. There’s a point.
In numerous job fields, women are earning considerably less than their male counterparts for the same job with no explanation. There’s a point.
Around the world, girls and women are sold into human trafficking. There’s a point.
In various settings, men use authority positions to make inappropriate comments to females or force inappropriate actions on them, and even form inappropriate relationships with them. They then use that same authority to threaten the women and keep them quiet. There’s a point.
Women in every age bracket are chastised daily if they don’t meet society’s cookie-cutter standards of where they should be in life, how they should look, or how they should act. There’s a point.
Women are judged by other women instead of encouraged and supported by them. Mothers are looked down on if they work or if they stay at home. There’s a point.
Globally, teachers are informing students about radical women in history that did amazing things. There’s a point.
I could go on, but the points will rack up like a pro basketball game.  Feminism. Just one more F word that gets misused and is not encouraged to be used in mixed company. Is there a point? I believe so. After all, a revolution can start not with a bang, but with a whisper.