What Feminism is about for me (8) Men’s Impact on Women’ Empowerment
Some time ago a friend sent me the DVD of the Swiss movie: “Die
göttliche Ordnung” – the Divine Order. In the accompanying card she wrote: “To
Hannele, the committed women’s rights activist, who time and again gives me
inputs to ponder on.” The movie is about how women in Switzerland finally were
able to break out from the concept that women’s submission to their husbands
was the Divine Order of things for society in general
Women’s Vote
Women had been denied the right to political participation by the
legislative bodies consisting of men. As they were not going to give women the
right to vote voluntarily, women had to demand and fight for their rights.
Equal political powers meant that men had to give women a say in things and
could no longer dominate the process. Giving away power was certainly painful.
In Switzerland, one of the last European counties to give women the vote in
1971, the change still came about due to women’s activism, but most likely also
because it was just embarrassing for a modern, democratic country to exclude
women from politics. In a previous referendum, in 1959, Swiss men had voted by
a clear majority against the introduction of a national women's suffrage and
women's right to vote. The male citizens had not wanted to share their power
and thus denied their mothers, sisters, wives, and daughters their democratic
rights.
A Divine Order?
Patriarchy is a perversion of God’s original plan for humankind at
creation when He created man and woman in His image as equal partners. The fact
that women have been submitted to patriarchy for most of the world’s history
does not make it a divine order. There are books like Beth Allison Barr’s new
book “The Making of Biblical Womanhood –
How the Subjugation of Women became Gospel Truth” that clearly refute this
concept in detail, so I will not take this up here. Still, many churches refuse
equal treatment of women. The male-only leadership denies women full
participation in the mission and ministry of the church. As women have
practically no voice in the decision-making bodies, they are still dependent on
the magnanimity or embarrassment of men for changes to be effectuated.
A friend who read my book “Tired
of Waiting – Women in Church and Society,” warned against drawing the line
between supporters and opponents of women’s ordination according to gender. Of
course, there are a whole lot of men in the church who support gender equality
in ordination, as well as women who are against it. But still, at least in the
Seventh-Day Adventist Church, policy decisions are mostly in the hands of the
top leaders, and the majority of these leaders are men. They have the power to
influence even apparently democratic decisions. I suspect that many of their
colleagues in leadership do not support the current leadership style but remain
silent, hoping that somebody else will speak out. I wish they would learn from the world leaders
who are involved in women’s empowerment, who have realized that the world will
only profit from gender equality.
I have to admit that there are radical feminists who have given a
negative touch to the word feminism. I do not agree with everything that
happens under the guise of feminism. There are aggressive and extreme facets I
do not share. But it is unfair to dump a whole concept just because some parts
might be flawed. As long as men refuse to share power and treat women with
equality and respect, women have to actively work for more justice. I would
like to quote Simone de Beauvoir who said, "Never forget that it only
takes one political, economic or religious crisis for women's rights to be put
in jeopardy. Those rights are never to be taken for granted; you must remain
vigilant throughout your life." But today women not alone. There is a
growing number of men who are not afraid to be called feminists. Global leaders
are calling for gender equality.
#HeforShe
#HeForShe is a program initiated by UN Women, inviting men and boys
around the world to stand in solidarity with women and girls to make gender
equality a reality. Emma Watson is a young British actress, best known for her
role as Hermione Granger in the eight Harry Potter movies. In 2014, Watson was
named a U.N. Women Goodwill Ambassador by the United Nations as an advocate for
this gender equality campaign. To launch the initiative, she gave a speech on
September 20, 2014, about gender inequality in which she addressed feminism.
She said, “For the record, feminism by definition is the belief that men and
women should have equal rights and opportunities. It is the theory of
political, economic, and social equality of the sexes…. But my recent research
has shown me that feminism has become an unpopular word. Women are choosing not
to identify as feminists. Apparently, I’m among the ranks of women whose
expressions are seen as too strong, too aggressive, isolating, and anti-men.
Unattractive, even.“ She continued to challenge men to take up the mantle so
that their daughters, sisters, and mothers can be free from prejudice. Maybe
people don’t like the word feminism, but it is not the word that is important.
It’s the idea and the ambition behind it.
She ended her speech with the words, „We are struggling for a uniting
word, but the good news is, we have a uniting movement. It is called HeForShe.
I invite you to step forward, to be seen and to ask yourself, “If not me, who?
If not now, when?”
In the information about the HeforShe movement on Facebook we read:
“UN Women's Solidarity Movement for Gender Equality bringing
together one half of humanity in support of the other half of humanity, for the
benefit of all.“ It continues with more detailed information:
HeForShe is
UN Women’s solidarity movement for gender equality. HeForShe is changing the
traditional gender equality narrative to be more inclusive, recognizing that
gender equality is a benefit to all. HeForShe invites men to take part in the
gender equality movement in support of the women in their lives, but also as
individuals who stand to benefit in a gender-equal world. HeForShe is working
to unpack and shed light on gender equality issues, especially gender
stereotypes and assumptions, that are damaging to all genders. Equality cannot
be achieved unless we are all equal, and that is what HeForShe is all about –
equality for all.
Since its
launch on the 20th of September, 2014, at the United Nations by UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and UN Women Global Goodwill Ambassador, Emma
Watson, hundreds of thousands of men from around the world including Heads of
State, CEOs, and global luminaries, from all walks of life have committed to
gender equality.
HeforShe Summit 2021
The HeForShe Summit on May 27, 2021, took stock of the
progress made over the past six years. A group of 35 leaders emerged who are
committed to addressing the most pressing issues. They are presidents, prime
ministers, business and education leaders and are called HeForShe Champions. At
the virtual HeForShe Summit, they shared their methods aimed at accelerating
positive progress.
“I am delighted that each of the HeForShe Champions is sharing what they
have learned by launching their Proven Solutions” said Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Under-Secretary-General
and Executive Director of UN Women. “After today, with our partners providing
almost 40 solutions, no one can say they do not know where to start. No one can
be a bystander.”
Adding his voice to the global movement, former UK Prime Minister, Tony
Blair, urged men to join him in backing the initiative and expressed the need
for more male leaders to be part of the solution. “Gender equality, the
advancement of rights for women and girls, is a just cause and it concerns
everybody,” he said. “That’s why it’s so important that men and male leaders,
who have so often been part of the problem, should become now part of the
solution.”
Adventist HeForShe
The world needs the involvement and impact of women in all areas. That
is why it is so important that we are brought together for the benefit of all. But
not only the world needs women, the church does, too. I wonder if we could
launch an Adventist HeForShe campaign, with the global church leaders taking a
stand for women’s empowerment? Could Conference, Union, and Division presidents
and their Executive committees pledge to advance gender equality within the
church? Some have already voiced their support and could be called founding
members and champions of the initiative.
The HeForShe movement was initiated by the United Nations General
Secretary in 2014 and has gained support from government and business leaders.
This has given the project an official character. It would probably be too much
to expect the Seventh-Day Adventist General Conference to initiate a similar
program. But could not a grassroots movement start an #Adventist HeForShe
campaign with a petition and a platform where Adventist leaders in favor of
women’s empowerment show their support? We are so good at talking about things.
What about taking action now, with the General Conference Session approaching? As
Emma Watson said: “If not me, who? If not now, when?”
For more information on #HeForShe visit: https://www.heforshe.org/en/celebrities-and-world-leaders-government-business-academia-convene-un-womens-global-heforshe-summit and the HeForShe channel on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/heforshe where you will find all important videos on #HeForShe.
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