Femininity

Femininity has diverse meanings to women as well as men, depending on cultural, economic, political and religious factors. Western cultural notions of femininity have focused on outer body image, femininity being something that one can even acquire through using various products. Even Scripture does not give a universal definition of femininity and masculinity, concentrating as it does on what it means to be a godly woman or a godly man. The biblical text does, however, give a clear and consistent picture of the notion of the feminine, particularly in relation to the intimate love of God. So this article will focus on the metaphorical language of feminine bodily imagery in the biblical text and its relevance in shaping our knowledge and experience of God. In Scripture God has feminine as well as masculine attributes. As God-imaging creatures, intricately woven by an incredible Creator, we have both masculine and feminine aspects within us, though as gendered human beings we respond differently to the movement of the Spirit in our lives. This biblical invitation to experience full personhood, female and male, in relation to God stands in stark contrast to the stereotypes of popular culture.

Cultural Notions of Femininity

Delicate features, soft voices, quiet hearts, slender bodies, smooth legs, demure tone, and light, frilly clothing are only a few of the characteristics that have been associated with the concept of femininity. Standard in many cultures is the emphasis on outer bodily qualities as the substantive foundation for femininity. This has been critiqued within academic, popular, secular and sacred circles. The heart of the criticism is the linking of the concept of femininity with a beauty image, a connection to which few whole-heartedly subscribe. This secular critique is congruent with the biblical notion that femininity is not an outward but an inward phenomenon—a state of being more than a state of doing.

Unfortunately femininity has been used to sell cars, toilet bowl cleaners and makeup and has been used to the detriment of women. Public discourse on this matter has revolved around the formation of femininity from patriarchal beauty norms rather than from values originating in women themselves. One scholar writes, “Patriarchal beauty norms, past and present, have been revealed as a carefully constructed narrative that creates artificial and hierarchical restrictions on the feminine appearance and other aspects of identity” (Callaghan, p. xiv). The feminine body image becomes a standardized size or shape, and women, not cherishing their whole body-soul, are relegated to lives of dieting, discouragement and eating disorders. One writer has compared the beauty myth to a religion: “The magazines transmit the beauty myth as the gospel of a new religion” (Wolf, p. 200). Beauty is obviously desirable but comes in many forms. It is a tragedy that a specific cultural definition of beauty has become the primary focus for definitions of femininity. Not surprisingly, there is a crisis in what it means to be feminine in this day and age.

Biblical Notion of the Feminine

There is no escaping the impact of what the media have fabricated and marketed as femininity. An unintended consequence of this is that “the cultural image of women, the public image, is distorted by patriarchy. We are more than victim or sexual plaything, and it is out of that ‘more than’ that we search for the face of God” (Proctor-Smith, p. 16). This search for a divine perspective on femininity and masculinity focuses more on who God is than who we are as feminine or masculine. To say that we are made in the image of God, male and female (Genesis 1:27), is not to say God is like us; rather we are like God in ways we will now explore.

As mentioned before, there are many images and models in Scripture of what it means to be a godly woman or a godly man, but fewer statements about what it means to be feminine or masculine. For example, the woman of Proverbs 31 is both strong and gentle, wise and vigorous, compassionate and resourceful, creative and businesslike. Deborah, a vigorous woman leader in the book of Judges, exemplifies remarkable leadership skills. These godly qualities are visible in both men and women, and it is difficult to categorize them as only feminine or masculine. One thought worth exploring is that living fully in the image of God is living fully as feminine and masculine.

In stark contrast to equating femininity with bodily image, the biblical text gives a notion of the feminine that includes the body as a metaphor of God’s love. Fundamental to this is the scriptural witness that God has masculine and feminine attributes. To say that God is a man or a woman is ultimately heretical. God is neither, but beyond all of our conceptions and categories of gender. The deepest understanding we can have of God is as the Trinity, a communion of love. Jesus is obviously male, yet both Jesus and God the Creator have feminine attributes. For example, Jesus refers to himself as a mother hen (Matthew 23:37), and God is referred to as one giving birth (Isaiah 42:13-14; Isaiah 46:3), a midwife (Psalm 22:9-10; Isaiah 66:9-13) and an eagle in whom we take refuge (Deut. 32:11-12; Psalm 57:1).

Jesus includes both masculine and feminine examples when he teaches in parables, challenging the assumption of the male-centered world of New Testament times. When Jesus includes women in his parables, he reveals a down-to-earth God working through everyday life. The parables of the yeast (Luke 13:20), the woman and the lost coin (Luke 15:8-10) and the persistent widow (Luke 18:1-8) speak of the mystery of God’s breaking through the most ordinary moments of human life. Furthermore, the Hebrew word for wisdom is grammatically feminine. In the book of Proverbs wisdom expresses a feminine image of God, present from the creation and to be cherished now (Proverbs 8:11, 22-31). These verses are samples of many biblical passages that express the feminine and deserve our attention if we want to fully comprehend the nature of God.

Considering these aspects of femininity and masculinity gives us a clue to the relational aspect of living. This is summed up well by sociologist Annelies Knoppers in her work on gender relations when she says, “Femininity and masculinity are not aspects of femaleness and maleness existing independently of each other as static entities. Femininity and masculinity are constructed and reconstructed in a relational manner” (quoted in Van Leeuwen, p. 257). Texts in the Scriptures attributing feminine qualities to God show how God has an intimate, relational life with us. These metaphors, or word pictures, give visual and symbolical ways to grasp the text and invite the readers to experience the wide love of God bursting through their whole beings.

The cultural emphasis on the outward body as defining of femininity contributes to a dualistic understanding: body separated from heart, soul and mind. In contrast the biblical notion of the body affirms and even celebrates the person as an interconnected whole. The feminine bodily imagery embedded throughout the biblical text illuminates an image of God as identifying with the bodiliness of a woman and communicating love through bodily metaphors. This is in opposition to historical formulations of a woman’s body or bodily functions as associated with sin and evil or, as articulated by Aquinas, the idea that “women are misbegotten males” (quoted in Clanton, p. 39).

Living Inside the Feminine Metaphors for God

As I reflect on the numerous metaphors of the feminine for God, I can personally share my own phenomenological understanding of them as a woman, particular to my experience. This does not mean that every woman may or should experience the bodily metaphors in the biblical text in this specific way, but I believe one person’s lived experience can flesh out the universal experience more concretely. For women, our bodiliness is central to our being. We cannot escape the cycles of being women, whether we give birth or not. We are keenly aware of the cycles of menstruation, hormonal fluxes, premenopause and menopause. Change, birth, death and letting go are built into our bodies as females. This pull to our bodies is one that organically gives us a cyclical understanding of the world rather than only a linear one. This, in turn, will affect a woman’s perspective and the way she articulates the spiritual life, theology and ministry (see Carr; Fischer).

It is in bodily imagery that the feminine attributes of God are primarily visible in the biblical text. These bodily images do not focus exclusively on the mothering or nurturing qualities of God but impart a wider understanding of the spiritual life: intimacy with God, rhythms of life, waiting, suffering, joy, receptivity and responsiveness. One of the words in the Old Testament used to convey God’s immeasurable mercy and compassion for the Israelites has the same root that is used for womb: raham. This word conveys a deep love, akin to the natural bond of a child in the womb: “As a father [or mother] has compassion [raham] on his [her] children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him” (Psalm 103:13). Womb love is God’s love—a love that no force can break or alter, a strong, deep love that is woven with the threads of grace and mercy. This is echoed by the prophet Jeremiah when God says, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you” (Jeremiah 1:5). God knows us like that, providing womb love from a gentle and strong Creator. When we experience God’s love for us as womb love, we profoundly enter the compassion of God and truly experience the scope of raham.

Another feminine metaphor in the biblical text that models for us something about the intimate relationship between God and ourselves is that of breast-feeding. The Old Testament exhorts the people to “nurse and be satisfied at her [Jerusalem’s] comforting breasts” and to “drink deeply and delight in her overflowing abundance” (Isaiah 66:11). Literally, the Hebrew expresses the passage with a more accurate reading: “For you will suck and be satisfied.” As I breast-fed my children, I began to see the heart of God in this physical act of intimacy—flesh to flesh, skin to skin. Pondering this metaphor gives a glimpse of a God who is tenderly compassionate, intimately involved with life: breast-feeding at the heart of God. As I watched my babies sucking and delighting in being fed at my breasts, I was drawn to my Maker’s presence in much the same way. This image meets me at my deepest point—a vulnerable one—and I am wooed to nurse at the breast of God’s consolations.

Another potent feminine image in the biblical text is the eagle. The beautiful words in the Song of Moses remind us of this image combining strength and gentleness: “As an eagle stirs up its nest, and hovers over its young; as it spreads its wings, takes them up, and bears them aloft on its pinions” (Deut. 32:11-12 NRSV). Bald eagles often soar the Pacific coastal skies of Canada and pull one into glory to see their grace and might. The image of the strong eagle soaring across the weather-beaten sky, protecting and nurturing her young, is liberating. As women, we need images of the feminine that also include strength. Through this image men and women can be strengthened by God’s love as they both take refuge in God’s wings and mount up with eagle’s wings (Isaiah 40:31).

While most of the passages I have cited relate to motherhood, femininity in the Bible is not limited to this. What these passages provide is an alternative concept of the feminine body to the one provided by the mass media. The biblical text redefines the body as something wholesome and good that is even likened to the fierce love of God. God is One who suffers, gives birth, creates and continues to love us into existence and relationship. One learns more about who God is than what God does through the feminine dimension. This complements the masculine imagery of God, which focuses more on God’s action in history. So through the feminine dimension of God, we are wooed back to the womb of God, to become God’s beloved daughters and sons.

» See also: Body

» See also: Sexuality

References and Resources

K. A. Callaghan, ed., Ideals of Feminine Beauty: Philosophical, Social and Cultural Dimensions (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 1994); A. E. Carr, Transforming Grace: Christian Tradition and Women’s Experience (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1990); J. A. Clanton, In Whose Image: God and Gender (New York: Crossroad, 1990); K. Fischer, Women at the Well: Feminist Perspectives on Spiritual Direction (New York: Paulist, 1988); M. Proctor-Smith, “Out of the Silences: Feminist Resources for Knowing God,” Perspectives 8, no. 3 (1993) 15-17; C. S. Schroeder, In the Womb of God: Creative Nurturing for Your Soul (Liguori, Mo.: Triumph/Liguori, 1995; portions quoted with permission); M. S. Van Leeuwen, ed., After Eden: Facing the Challenge of Gender Reconciliation (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993); N. Wolf, The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women (New York: Anchor/Doubleday, 1991).

—Celeste Schroeder