The Divine Feminine

By guest blogger the Rev. Linda Faltin

Missing indigenous women and girls in the Americas…honor killings in India…abductions of schoolgirls in Nigeria…countless women abused by their husbands in virtually every community in almost every country of this world. Yet we act so surprised, become so outraged, as if this were something new and startling. When, in fact, this is the way things have always been for those of us who are female and the recipients of misogyny in all its many forms. Men have always been the ones in control, the ones to write the laws, the ones to handle the wealth and even the health care systems. And while it’s true that we have made strides throughout the world, with more women in positions of power in government and business and academia, we have a long, long way to go until there is true equity in the systems in place on this planet we call home. For patriarchy still reigns supreme and women are still seen as “less than” in so many quarters.

And while I have absolutely no data to back it up, have seen no studies done, read no papers or articles to this effect, I have my own theory about this preeminent position of misogyny in our nation and in our world. In spite of what Sigmund Freud saw as a “problem” for women which he dubbed “penis envy”, I suspect that what is really happening among so many of our male siblings is “creation envy”. After all, we females are the ones who are the vessel, the vehicle, for the birthing of new life. We are the ones who give birth to the next generation. We are the life-bearers. And in so being, we also have the potential to “give birth” to new ideas, new ways of doing things, new and different ways of seeing our world and solving its problems, unlike the “tried and true”- and often failing ones- advocated by the male of the species.

The book of Genesis tells those of us in the Judeo-Christian tradition that God created humanity in the Divine image, creating them- us- male and female. Both in the Divine image. Both commissioned by the Creator to care for the earth and all of its inhabitants. Both equally important in the Divine scheme of things. But only the female was endowed with the life-giving ability to give birth, to bring into being the next generation of human life. And while both sexes are necessary for this miracle to happen, only the female is charged with being the life-bearer. This is a position of such beauty and creativity, that across the ages the male subconsciously developed the sense of being second-best. After all, why did God give this important task to Woman and not to Man?

Thus…envy. And what do we do with envy? We turn it into anger and into the justification for mistreatment, for abuse, for every sort of debasing behavior which the human mind can invent, turning the power for generative creativity into the dreadful power of control, firmly placing the male foot on the female neck.

Now, lest you think I am a man-hater, I hasten to assure you that I have many wonderful male friends and family members from whom I have never felt such misogyny. Indeed, some of my greatest encouragers over the years have been the men in my life. But looking around me, I see that this has not been the case for many women: girls and women are still being exploited and trafficked for sex; women still make far less than men for the same kind of work; far fewer women are in positions of authority and decision-making; and the systems firmly in place in our culture justify and excuse bad male behavior in a manner not accorded to females.

If we truly believe, and I do, that all humans have been created in the Divine image and that we all have inestimable worth because we each contain that spark of divinity, then how can nearly half of the human race justify treating the rest of us with such disdain, such lack of care? And since we are the life-bearers, shouldn’t we be accorded the level of respect which this role deserves? Brothers, don’t envy our creative abilities, but learn from us- about relationships, about problem-solving in a way that includes everyone, about valuing and respecting all people and creatures on this planet, about working for peace and justice with compassion and determination.

Join hands and hearts with us, that together we might create a society, a world, in which ALL-female and male- will be accorded the respect and value each deserves. This, to me, is the Reign of God for which Jesus worked. This, to me, is the Reign of God for which we should be working. Let it be so.