Where Faith and Life Meet: A Review of Carolyn McCulley, Radical Womanhood

I have a confession to make. I am slogging through my fourth year of doctoral studies, and there are times when I have a tendency to forget that what I study is about real issues that impact real people. I forget that where the rubber meets the road between faith and practice is the important link between a Christianity that impacts its world or a Christianity that only studies its world. It is hard to remember that fact at times when you wrestle over minute nuances of theology or spend the majority of your time reading works most of the people in your life have never heard about—or would never pick up even if they had. However, the negative impact of feminist theology on churches, universities, and families is a real and urgent issue. It is not some esoteric topic to banter about in a seminar classroom. If one considers the ideas of such feminist theologians as Rosemary Radford Ruther or Elizabeth Schüssler Fiorenza regarding anthropology or Christology, it is possible to forget that their thinking is impacting men and women right now who have probably never even heard their names. It is a trickle-down effect. Just as many "modern" women may have never read Betty Frieden's The Feminine Mystique, they are still dealing with the repercussions of her ideas in their homes. Should a woman stay at home to raise her children? Are there gender roles in a marriage relationship? These are questions that Frieden's book voiced and awakened into the American consciousness.

Carolyn McCulley's work, Radical Womanhood: Feminine Faith in a Feminist World, is a wakeup call for anyone who forgets that living according to God-ordained gender roles is violently under attack in today's society and has been under attack for many years. The women who surround you—your friends, neighbors, acquaintances—all live out on a daily basis what it means to be uniquely "woman" in the twenty-first century. The married, working mom standing beside you in the grocery line may have never thought about the implications of Ephesians 5 or Colossians 3, but you can bet that she has struggled at times with the meaning and balance of her roles as "mom," "employee," "wife," and simply "human being." For Christian women today, it is difficult, as McCulley states in her subtitle, to live out a feminine faith in a feminist world. But the world desperately needs to see Christian women living out their faith! A lost woman may not recognize her need, but she will see a difference if a Christian woman commits her life to radical, Christ-like living.

McCulley's work offers its readers a historical commentary on the feminist movement and its leaders, biblical teachings that counteract the tenets of feminist teachings, and testimonies from contemporary people who have struggled with the issues she examines. McCulley's own testimony adds credence to the work because she once considered herself a feminist; however, when she came to know the Lord in her thirties, she had to figure out the biblical teachings on womanhood against the backdrop of her formerly feministic worldview. How do biblical teachings on womanhood really work in today's society? Are gender roles just antiquated concepts better suited for a bygone age? What do women really think when confronted with the ideas of Scripture? McCulley called herself a tourist "lost in the land of church ladies" (15) soon after becoming a Christian. What she was confronted with in the church caused culture shock, and she says that she never forgot that experience. She wrote this book "for my thirty-year-old-self, the woman who needed to understand why much of what she had been taught in college and read in the media led to a dead end, and why the Bible inspired joy and peace" (16).

McCulley divides her work into eight succinct chapters. In the opening chapter McCulley diagnoses the problem as "dented" femininity created by feminism, and in the final chapter she offers the solution of "biblical" femininity. McCulley acknowledges that for feminism, men are often seen as the "problem." Yet in Christianity, the problem is sinful humanity. What she learned in her women's studies classes distorted true femininity. She notes that "all my previous feminist philosophies resulted in merely kicking at the darkness, expecting it would bleed daylight" (26). Darkness can never produce light, just like feminism will never truly be the answer for what ails women. Feminism is partially right—men do sin. But so do women. Sinful humanity needs Jesus Christ, and He is the only answer for what ails women as well as men.

In chapters 2 through 7, McCulley looks at six specific areas where feminism has questioned or outright attacked biblical truths. Chapter two, "Men Aren't the Problem," examines the founders of the first wave of feminism like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Betty Friedan who sparked the second wave of feminism. Both of these women focused on men as the problem source for women, when in fact sin is the problem.

In chapter 3, "Did God Really Say ...," the focus shifts to the ideas of marriage and submission. McCulley tells the story of Gloria Steinem, a second-wave feminist who rejected any idea of roles within marriage. McCulley notes that "feminists put a lot of emphasis on roles because they equate roles with inherent worth. But that is not a biblical concept" (61).

Gender differences are examined in "Role Call," chapter 4. The truth is that there are "fundamental differences" existing between men and women (75). Instead of celebrating this fact, feminists have either androgynized women or turned them into competition for men.

In "There's No Place Like Home," chapter 5, McCulley notes that feminists like Linda Hirshman argue that women need to get out of the home and into the workplace. McCulley gives a historical survey of the place of the home and hospitality. However, within the last fifty years, the home shifted from being a place of production to a place of consumption (113), and women found themselves exiting the home for so-called greener pastures.

McCulley examines the impact that feminist ideas have had on motherhood and children in chapter 6—"Mommy Wars." "Wars" have erupted between stay-at-home mothers and working mothers, but even graver is the impact this has had on children. Children started being viewed as burdens instead of blessings. McCulley also looks at Margaret Sanger and the birth control movement. Unquestionably, second-wave feminism has been the voice for abortion, and the "history of feminist ideology is manifestly anti-mother, anti-child, and anti-Jesus" (142).

Chapter 7, "Raunch Culture Rip-Off," looks at feminism's impact on sex. "Sex-positive or pornpositive theories are a large part of third-wave feminism" (164). Instead of empowering women, though, such ideas have reduced women to mere pieces of meat.

The "competing definitions of womanhood" between feminism and the Bible battle for the hearts of women every day. In each chapter, McCulley points to pertinent biblical passages to shine the light of truth on the darkness of feminism. Then, she offers personal testimonies of women who have struggled with mommy wars or role definitions or whatever the issue at hand. This approach is fresh and reminds readers that the issues they are reading about really do impact women. Readers can see where the "rubber meets the road" in applying biblical truth to everyday life. Jesus and the Bible really are the answer, and McCulley demonstrates this in each chapter. This work also offers a very helpful appendix on abuse.

The strength of this volume is that McCulley clearly understands the tensions of applying a biblical worldview in a post-Christian age. She offers a concise, understandable, and superbly written volume that is an enjoyable read and accessible to any woman who is trying to understand biblical womanhood. McCulley's work is a "new classic" that serves as an excellent introduction to feminism and Christianity. She demonstrates her knowledge of the subject matter, quoting extensively from related sources, and gives her readers an introduction to volumes for further study through her narrative. Most importantly, though, McCulley offers what many volumes have forgotten: a poignant argument for why the faith believed must be the faith lived out. The world is deceived, and Christianity offers the only hope.