Reviving Feminine Virtue in Spirituality

Addressing the Subjugation of Women in Religious Thought

The war horn has sounded. The call to arms for the end of the unequal treatment and abuse of women has been heard, and supporters have taken to the streets to end the long age of sexist tyranny. There is much ground yet to be gained, but the revolution has begun.

There is still substantial resistance to gender equality, to be sure. For the first time in innumerable generations, though, a distinct public voice can be heard demanding specific attention to the way our societies view and treat women.

Enlightened minds acknowledge and work to combat the unfair and abusive treatment of women in the workplace. We’re making efforts to address and correct the manner in which young men and women view the roles of women in society. There’s a great deal of work left to do, but we’re beginning to see initiatives to change the way that young women see their own futures.

While it is, of course, important to support the adult women currently fighting to survive in what is still regrettably a world tilted in favor of men, we’ve come to the realization that real long-term change begins with modeling for young people the concept of feminine power, equality, potential, and virtue.

“As the gender equality movement advances, though, there is some benefit to be gained from re-injecting gender equality into our spiritual schemata.”

We’re finally recognizing the contributions of women in traditionally male-dominated fields like math and science. We’re celebrating women in business, as well as in civil and legal leadership roles. We’re appreciating the genius of women in the arts, and we’re admitting that we’ve spent far too long underestimating women’s physical prowess.

Despite the beginnings of this social climate change, though, there remains an area in which we silently allow the female concept to continue to flounder. Western spiritual concepts are still overwhelmingly dominated by artificially instituted masculinity.

THE LACK OF FEMALE MODELS IN MODERN SPIRITUAL CONCEPTS