Faith: The dangers of secular feminism?

by Teresa Nnaya

 

 “Let us stop wanting to be like men and acknowledge the differences between men and women…”

At age eight, Tinu was already a die-hard feminist. For as long as she could remember, she had always wanted to succeed in a man’s world and in a man’s way. 

Having grown up in a family where her father’s career was the family’s centre of gravity and her mother’s role was relegated to the background, she had imbibed the hidden lesson which was that ‘to be strong and successful in one’s career is desirable and being humble, subservient and domestic is to be inferior.’ She dreamt of liberating herself from the shackles of home and hearth and gaining the power as the queen of the boardroom.

Emboldened by dreams of corporate success, she drenched all her youthful energies into her career and her sacrifices paid off. After achieving academic glory, Tinu snagged a job in a multinational company where her creativity, resilience and intelligence were quickly spotted and rewarded. 

However, as she progressed further in her glittering career, Tinu discovered that her Achilles heel lay in the area of relationships. Time and time again, she would meet a promising guy, only for the relationship to fall apart in a matter of months. Most often, the disillusioned men cited her pride, her preoccupation with her career, her inflexibility and her inability to compromise as their reason for parting ways. 

As one break-up led to another, Tinu was forced to admit that the model she had adopted for her life was in dire need of tinkering. In other words, she was having an identity crisis. Dissatisfied with her way of life, she searched everywhere for the elusive answer to the question of her life’s mission. 

In her search for the truth, she was directed to the Catholic Church. Lo and behold! There, she learnt that after Christ, the greatest person who ever lived was a woman. And the woman was not a business tycoon or a government official. She was poor, humble, and – of all things! – a housewife. 

Tinu’s study of the Blessed Virgin Mary turned her priorities upside down. In Mary, Tinu found a humility that was not weakness, a modesty that was not mediocrity and a femininity that was not second-class. She learnt that grace, not giftedness, is the touchstone of true greatness. 

As we celebrate a New Year, I pray that women renounce the lies of the Women’s Liberation Movement. Let us stop wanting to be like men and acknowledge the differences between men and women, not as a defect, but rather as a richness, a gift from God.

Comments (3)

  1. All due respect, but Mary is by far a minor character in the Bible. Not sure how anyone can deduce so much of her life and character from the few mentions.

    Even them Ruth and Naomi and Esther are pretty minor (but at least we know more about what they DID). I'm sure there's a women's Bible out there somewhere; archaeologists just have to find it! Till then, the Holy Book has women not even as supporting actors, but as extras in the action.

  2. Tinu was pressured to succeed in d corporate world b/cos of her background. She discovered dat she actually wanted a lasting relationship, which she can't hv b/cos of all d bad side of Tinu. She found the BVM a worthy model. These r Tinu's experiences. I'm happy 4 Tinu.

    Contrary 2 popular belief, a feminist is not an arrogant man-eater, just as a male feminist is not a woman-wrapper, or a man who cries, a weakling.

  3. I L♡√ع this.

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