Faith and feminism are two words that you don’t often find together. At Liberti, we believe they are not mutually exclusive terms and are exploring what gender justice means for different people in different contexts. Natalie Collins, co-founder of the Christian Feminist Network, has been on a journey of discovery as she has made sense of her experiences of male violence.

I took a deep breath as I walked to the lectern, unsure of how my words would be received. Declaring that I loved God with all my heart in a room filled with life-long committed feminists felt both deeply important and yet as if at any moment they might begin throwing rotten fruit at me. I wondered whether to omit that part of my talk, my brain oscillating between leaving it in and taking it out with each step I took.
The event was the launch of a book called The Lightbulb Moment; a collection people’s stories about when they became feminists. The stories had been collated and edited by Sian Norris, a Bristol based author and activist. I had become involved in the project accidentally when Sian asked via Twitter for people to send her their stories. I assumed it was for a blog series and happily sent off my story. Fast forward a few months and I was at the book launch about to read my chapter to a large group of feminists, many of whom were adamant atheists.

I began by telling the group, “Before I start I would like to say I am a Christian. I love God with all my heart…” I went on to share my story of suffering abuse from my ex-husband. At no point did anyone throw fruit at me or say anything disparaging about my beliefs. In fact I found the space more welcoming and accepting of me than some of the churches I have been to.

At times it can seem that Christianity and feminism are totally incompatible, it is a view that some Christians and some feminists agree with passionately.

For some feminists, all religion is a tool of patriarchy invented to keep women oppressed and enable men to keep their power and privilege. For some Christians, feminism is deeply evil, to quote Pat Robertson, “Feminism encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians.” For others feminism seems extreme, while the feminist view of abortion prevents Christians from ever wanting to own the title.

As a committed Christian, I have found feminist theory invaluable in making sense of my experiences of male violence. I became a feminist when I discovered that my ex-husband’s treatment of me, and in fact all male violence against women and girls, was rooted in his belief that he owned me and was entitled to treat me the way he did. That this form of male domination was part of a spectrum of acts, some intentional and some subconscious, that lead to women being unfairly disadvantaged across the globe. That disadvantage may take the form of violence and rape or of female genital mutilation. It may look like women’s lack of representation in public life, as MP’s, performers, guests on panel shows. It looks like women and girls being blamed for being abused and the beauty, fashion, pornography and toy industries’ insistences that women and girls will never ever be good enough. I found that this entire disadvantage is rooted in “Patriarchy”, the power which maintains an unjust power differential between men and women in every country in the world.

Although feminism has been misunderstood and misrepresented by many, it is simply about women and girls, men and boys across the globe at various points throughout history standing up to say that women should not be disadvantaged. It is not a cohesive political movement like Marxism or capitalism, but rather the cry of individuals and groups of women and men that gender injustice must end.

During The Lightbulb Moment book launch, Chitra Nagarajan spoke of her experiences as a black woman within the feminist movement. She shared how hard she had found it to fit into mainstream feminism, which was majority white and middle class. As a black woman, her experiences of oppression differed and so she worked with other women to set up a space for black women to come together to share what feminism meant to them. This became the Black Feminist Network. As I sat there listening to her I recognised some of what she said. As a Christian I have worked with a feminist organisation who told me I could never mention that I had a faith and I have spent time in feminist spaces knowing that people are either indifferent or hostile to the parts of my life that are most important to me, namely Jesus.

I began to have conversations with various Christian women, including feminist blogger Hannah Mudge, sociology lecturer and feminist writer Kristin Aune, Anglican Priest Anna Macham and Jennifer Parnham a specialist in sexual exploitation and working with vulnerable women and girls. We had been having conversations both separately and together about the need for a space where we could fit as both Christians and feminists, a space where we could show Christians and feminists that Christian feminism is not an oxymoron. And so the Christian Feminist Network was born.

Over the last 18 months we have run events in London and Manchester and have participated in Million Women Rise, Europe’s largest women only march to speak out about male violence against women. We have produced a book list and blog regularly about faith and feminism. Though we recognise there is a long way to go, we hope that we can inform and inspire Christian women and men across the UK to see that feminism and the Christian faith are compatible.

Ten myths about feminism

1. All feminists believe {enter belief here}

Feminism is not like Christianity; there isn’t a creed that all those who believe in equality for women sign up to. Some feminists believe pornography empowers women, others believe it is oppressive; some believe feminism is about personal choice whereas others believe it is about corporate liberation of women. The reality is that feminism is united solely in the belief that women should not be disadvantaged because of their sex.

2. Feminists hate men

Feminists do not hate men, in fact feminist
thought believes abusive men choose to behave in this way, rather than it being innate. Many feminists have sons and husbands, and fighting against power based masculinity is about making men’s and boys’ lives better. Throughout history there have been some radical separatist feminists who believed in separating completely from men, however they are no more the norm for feminism than extremist Christians who picket funerals with “God hates fags” placards are for Christianity.

3. Feminists are generally lesbians

Although there are more lesbians amongst the feminist population than the wider community, feminism has nothing to do with sexual orientation.

4. Feminists participate in bra burning

In 1968 a group of feminists protested the Miss America beauty pageant. It was falsely reported that the group burned bras. They did not and feminists have never burned bras.

5. Feminists do not believe in removing body hair

The removal of body hair is a societal beauty norm, and as such some feminists do not remove their body hair. This is a matter of personal choice, not corporate commitment.

6. Men cannot be feminists

There are some feminists who state that men can only be “feminist allies” and that feminist spaces should always be woman only. However, many feminist groups are open to both men and women and believe that feminism is open to anyone willing to live their lives enabling gender justice to be realised. It is similar to some churches not allowing non-members to take communion, although this is a rule for some Christians, it is not a characteristic of Christianity as a whole.

7. Feminists kill unborn babies

One of the issues feminists have always prioritised is women’s rights over their own bodies. Feminists have long pioneered access to contraception and the passing of laws which criminalise rape and sexual assault. But, there are some feminists who believe that access to abortion is paramount, as an unborn child exists within the mother’s body and as such she should have the right to decide what to do with her body. There are some feminists that are pro-life and believe in working towards a world where becoming pregnant never needs to be a negative, through campaigning for better statutory provision for mothers and working to prevent sexual and domestic violence.

8. A woman can only be either feminine or feminist

Femininity is a social construct and differs between cultures and societies and as such femininity as a fixed entity is a myth. Feminism is about liberating women and men from restrictive gender expectations. Although for some women this may mean rejecting certain behaviours or attitudes, feminism isn’t about uniformity but rather liberation.

9. Women and men are now equal and feminism is no longer needed

In the UK alone rape, domestic violence, stalking, harrassment and “honour” based violence disproportionately affect women. On the national UK Christian platform only 28% of the speakers are women, on average women are paid 15.7% less than men and 22.7% of UK MPs. This does not seem like a particularly equal society.

10. Feminism and Christianity are incompatible

Genesis 3:16 shows God saying that one consequence of the Fall was that a woman’s “desire will be for her husband, but he will rule over her.” This verse shows us that male domination was not God’s best plan for humanity but an effect of sin, similar to pain in
childbirth and death. This male domination can also be termed patriarchy. In Romans 5:17 Pauls says that “For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!” The curse of sin and death were removed in Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, therefore as Christians we must live as those free of patriarchy. This is the work of feminism, to see a world free of patriarchy, a world free of injustice.

by NATALIE COLLINS

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