The Trending Backlash Against Gender Equity

Moreen Sharp

Moreen lives in Abbotsford, BC and has lived out her desire to see women flourish, understanding God’s love for them in ever deeper ways while living out all that God has called them to be. She has served as president of Women in Focus, president of Canadian Baptist Women, president of Baptist Women of North America and Executive Director of Baptist World Alliance Women. She and her husband Paul have served God together in ministry for 43 years. She is mother of two beautiful daughters and grandmother of 3.

Approximately 10 years ago I noticed a disturbing trend happening in Christian churches. After years of steadily making progress in gender equity in the church, young men were popping up everywhere with the desire to see women relegated to the background. In short, a move back to patriarchy. This has been distressing to me considering the small gains we had been making in the pursuit of equality in the Church.

In March I attended the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York. This is a conference that is dedicated to considering issues that women are facing across our globe and what kind of progress is being made. There are hundreds of sessions on various topics. This year I was very interested to hear about a global backlash against gender equity. As I have attended this Commission for the last twelve years, I was very interested to hear this concern coming up repeatedly this year.

At the opening session of the CSW, the UN Secretary-General spoke of “the poison of patriarchy, which is back and out for revenge”. Even the Nordic European countries, far ahead on equality issues, are witnessing a decline. At the Nordic parliamentarian panel, they expressed deep concern, citing that in their annual report to the UN, one in 4 countries reports such backlashes for the first time. One of these panelists stated that this backlash has strengthened noticeably even in the two to three weeks before the Commission in March. In his words, “We took it for granted and stopped fighting and suddenly we see the earth moving beneath our feet.”

Some of the reasons:

·       A rise in patriarchy

o   Men have a lot of power and don’t want to give it up

o   They have grown up with the example that this is masculinity

·       Misinformation

·       Gives them a sense of purpose

·       Strengthening of individualism and narcissism – everything is about “me”

·       Polarization and lack of space for dialogue between people with opposing positions

·       Rise in fundamentalism

·       A rise of authoritarian political leaders, using anti-gender campaigning as a political tool

·       Internet

o    Pornography; resulting in seeing women as objects to be owned and used

o   Big Tech is financing the far right, monetizing hatred online, turning divisive rhetoric into a source of income and power. Profit is generated from viewing videos, thus more videos and misinformation spreads for monetary gain

o   Algorithms in social media platforms creating values

Solutions:

According to CSW keynote speech by Sima Bahous, Executive Director of UN Women, one of the keys to achieving full equality is for men to start fighting harder for it too.

Helping men understand that we need them as allies in this pursuit. If a man is silent when he hears another man talk in a misogynistic way, he is complicit. Encourage them to speak up and challenge their male friend.

Training youth and young men, in particular, preferably taught by non-patriarchal men. Help them understand other ways to have purpose in life, especially as Jesus followers.

Don’t take progress for granted. Keep talking about it.

Educate and raise awareness about wins against this global wave of authoritarianism.

Use our democracy to protect our rights.

Remain hopeful and resist. Refuse to give up. Progress isn’t permanent unless it is protected.

Remember our foremothers and how they worked toward equality, voting rights, etc. We can take their example, continue their vision and be unrelenting in keeping up the work.

As another panelist said, “There is always a way to conquer obstacles. We can go through or go around, but we can do it together.”

They are trying to divide us so we aren’t strong. Answers will come in movements – collectives. We need to counterbalance this movement through our own, by working together, each of us doing what we can.

Keep the dialogue open with those who have a different view.

We aren’t “fighting” for our rights. We are working on human rights. Not only that, but we are working toward the equality that Christ exemplified and the Apostle Paul stated in saying, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Gal. 3:28 NIV) In this pursuit, we are strengthening God’s kingdom, because if God’s daughters are limited, His kingdom is also limited.

Remember, we can’t do everything, but everyone can do something. As we each exemplify our beliefs in a kind, loving way, mentoring others, we can keep making progress.