Hollywood\u2019s female superhero myth attempts to influence the way our culture looks at women, shaping them into a one-size-fits-all mold, ignoring the great and subtle differences between the sexes. But women\u2019s strength manifests in many different forms, and Christianity is rich with a variety of examples. Why not check those out?
\n________<\/p>\n
Coming to theaters yet again: One more action flick with warring women in the lead role. But most of these movies only obscure real feminine strength.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnything you can do I can do better!\u201d sang the title character in the 1950 \u201cAnnie, Get Your Gun.\u201d That could be the motto of most of the female leads in blockbuster movies today. Consider Rey, played by Daisy Ridley in \u201cStar Wars: The Force Awakens.\u201d She\u2019s hailed as an empowering role model for girls, but critics have pointed out how closely she follows the infamous \u201cMary Sue\u201d trope \u2014 an adolescent with no prior experience whose improbable powers and skills save the day.<\/p>\n
In the original trilogy, Luke Skywalker lost his hand the first time he confronted the bad guy. Rey, meanwhile, easily bests her story\u2019s villain, despite never having picked up a lightsaber before.<\/p>\n
Writing at \u201cMere Orthodoxy,\u201d Alistair Roberts points to a pantheon of recent heroines from Merida, Katniss, and Black Widow, to Jyn Erso in the upcoming \u201cStar Wars: Rogue I\u201d \u2014 all of whom are more than equals to men in combat. These 98-pound kung fu masters routinely make guys look like clumsy idiots, all while showing off petite, department-store model figures.<\/p>\n
This \u201cstrong female character\u201d clich\u00e9, says Roberts, teaches audiences that in order to prove their equal dignity, ladies must be able to best men in hand-to-hand combat. But these portrayals, he argues, aren\u2019t just \u201cfailures of imagination\u201d that pit women against men in a \u201czero sum game.\u201d They also fly in the face of biology.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a reason traditional values taught us to despise men who hit women. Because on average, women simply aren\u2019t capable of fighting back, much less kicking men around the way they do in these movies. Roberts points to studies published in journals of sports medicine and applied physiology showing that men have, on average, ninety percent greater upper body strength, sixty-five percent greater lower body strength, and are twenty-two percent faster. The average man, researchers concluded, is stronger than 99.9 percent of women.<\/p>\n
Ignoring this results in more than just corny fights scenes. The belief that men and women aren\u2019t meaningfully different has real-world consequences. We recently told you about transgender fighter Fallon Fox, who brutally injured Tamikka Brents in women\u2019s mixed martial arts. Brents was being treated for facial fractures and a concussion.<\/p>\n
And the Marine Corps recently proposed a plan that would allow women to pass the physical fitness test without completing pullups. One anonymous officer admitted that pullups are important metrics of combat readiness, but said allowing women to skip this exercise would positively impact their military careers.<\/p>\n
This mindset undoubtedly contributes to our willingness to place women in danger. And if men and women belong together in the boxing ring and the battlefield, hey, why not the bathroom, too?<\/p>\n
Even worse, we\u2019ve become blind to the very feminine strengths that the Bible praises. Think of Deborah and Jael in the book of Judges. Think of Sarah, commended twice in the New Testament for her faith, or the Hebrew midwives, whose courage and value for human life saved an entire generation. Think of Hannah, whose patient longing for a child ushered in the kingdom over which Jesus would reign. Think of the loyalty of Ruth, and of Mary, who at a tender age welcomed God\u2019s promise to save the world.<\/p>\n
And look at history, too. My colleague Eric Metaxas tells of seven women in his book by that name. As Eric wrote in the introduction to the book, \u201cWhen I consider the seven women I chose, I see that most of them were great for reasons that derive precisely from their being women, not in spite of it.\u201d In other words, their accomplishments are not gender neutral but are rooted in their singularity as women. Amen! And their lives are so much richer than the stereotyped strong female characters in today\u2019s movies. Even if they weren\u2019t good with a lightsaber.<\/p>\n
________<\/p>\n
RESOURCES<\/p>\n
Why We Should Jettison the \u201cStrong Female Character\u201d
\nAlastair Roberts | Mereorthodoxy.com | April 18, 2016<\/p>\n
Female Marine Pullup Failure Doesn\u2019t Mean Women Aren\u2019t Strong
\nMollie Hemingway | The Federalist | January 3, 2014<\/p>\n
5 Strong Women From The Bible
\nDavid Peach | whatchristianswanttoknow.com<\/p>\n
7 Women: And the Secret of Their Greatness
\nEric Metaxas | Thomas Nelson | September 2015<\/p>\n
________<\/p>\n
Copyright (c) 2016 Prison Fellowship Ministries. Reprinted with permission. “BreakPoint” is a radio ministry of Prison Fellowship Ministries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hollywood\u2019s female superhero myth attempts to influence the way our culture looks at women, shaping them into a one-size-fits-all mold, ignoring the great and subtle differences between the sexes. But women\u2019s strength manifests in many different forms, and Christianity is rich with a variety of examples. Why not check those out? ________ Coming to theaters […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1734,239,1543,2621,1788,156],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6911"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6911"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6911\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}