A gracious woman gets honour, but she who hates virtue is covered with shame.
Proverbs 11:16(a)

Do we understand what feminism really is?

How destructive it is?

Where it comes from?

More importantly, what The Most High desires for women and how feminism is counterproductive to His Will for us?

It’s easy to say that feminism is the idea that women deserve to be treated equal to men, but that’s simply untrue. And not only is that a false depiction of feminism, it neglects to acknowledge that women cannot handle being treated like men.

Our bodies aren’t built for 60+ years of hard physical labor. It’s not sustainable for us to be single mothers for 40+ years. Being in the workplace isn’t safe for us by any means, according to workplace sexual harassment and assault.

But feminism prompts women to get a degree, work hard so you don’t have to depend on a man, and if you ever do get a man then you don’t have to submit; you can wear what you want; live how you want; speak how you want; and if he doesn’t like it then you can find a man who will and continue to provide for yourself in the process.

Moreover, feminism says women should be treated like men but still also be treated like… women.

Hold the door for us, call us ma’am, lay down your jacket over a puddle of rainwater (I love this cheesy imagery lol), carry heavy things for us, pay ALL the bills, lead us in spirituality, and protect us all the days of our lives.

The main question that feminism raises is: “Why can’t women have both?”

Can we be both respected AND protected at the same time?
Is it possible for men to provide for us without expecting us to be total domestic servants?
Can we still be loved even if we’re opinionated and independent?

Well, reader, I urge you to ask yourself this, too:

Can men still be honored even when they leave a woman to be a single mother & abandon the children?
Is it possible for a man to love a woman without that woman expecting him to take care of her?
Can men be both poor and have as many wives as they please?

Sometimes, this is how foolish feminist arguments sound. It’s not foolish to desire some of the things men have. But it is extremely hypocritical to desire the rewards of manhood but not wanting to have the same workload or burdens because “I’m a woman.”

In the same way men may desire the rest and nesting ability of women to be taken care of and stay home while his wife makes all the money, but not have to cook or clean because “I’m a man”.

The envy of men is a poison that has seeped into our community like a viral disease and threatens to deter women and men alike from getting married. It feeds premarital sex, children being raised in broken homes, men who die childless and women who die early due to lifestyle diseases that accompany the heavy workload of being independent: high blood pressure, cancer, depression, heart disease, etc.

I understand that some groups of feminist women are asking for simple things, too. For instance, not being subject to rape; abuse or neglect in marriage; being protected from forced marriage; no forced sex trafficking; access to modern menstrual care; and the ability to make money to care for their poor families without having to marry a man they don’t love or even like just for his resources.

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Women are hurting all over the globe. I know the pain of feeling like you are inferior. The pain of needing a man’s provision but feeling like every man hates that he must be a provider. Feeling like you’ll be stuck in an abusive (or one-sided) marriage because you can’t afford to leave or don’t know how to be independent. Worrying about how you’ll provide if your husband decides to run off with his co-worker, or even in the event that he dies– scared that you are too weak, uneducated, and useless to survive because you’ve spent your whole life learning to be a domestic servant, not a provider.

My own struggle with feminism started in similar pain. Especially growing up without a father and watching my mother struggle to go to school, work, and raise four children on her own. I didn’t have an inheritance, didn’t go to college (barely finished high school at that), and ended up getting pregnant myself at sixteen.

I didn’t have a degree and all the well paying jobs required them; I didn’t have the time to work on my wife-skills because I was always working or too tired to function; and it seemed like in order to find a providing man I would have to become a slave.

I truly despised being a woman. The idea of working for 10+ years was a nightmare. The thought of being a wife was appealing until I realized (the hard way) that men aren’t perfect (I talk about men’s imperfection here). And I had even cried when I found out I was having a little girl instead of a boy because I dreaded bringing another woman into the world that I lived in, forced to be a vulnerable creature in a world where vulnerability is taken advantage of.

Is wanting justice, peace, and order the same as feminism? I thought so. That’s how I got sucked in. Feminism argues that men shouldn’t rape women and that all rapists should be put to death (the Scripture agrees). They say women deserve to be able to make money if they need to care for themselves and family (the Scripture agrees; think Ruth gleaning the field of Boaz; Laws in the Torah about letting the poor work in your fields). And that no woman should be trapped in any marriage with an unloving and abusive husband (the Scripture also agrees; 1 Peter 3).

But the difference lies in this: feminists wanting unconditional freedom from the same men they ask for protection, provision, and honor.

Feminism encourages us to not accept anything that isn’t exactly what we want, exactly when we want it. It says men should bow down to us. It tells us women that we don’t have to be men’s idea of women, but men must be our idea of men!

Feminism encourages women to let men have full access to their bodies without expecting men to foot the bill with resources. Yet, claim prostitution is ‘legitimate work’.

The truth about feminism is that it attracts hurting women with powerful arguments but tricks them into being used by men, used by capitalism, and used by the devil, simply put.

So how can we as women get the honor, love, and provision we feel is owed to us without betraying our own souls in the process? By seeking YAH first.

Yet woman will be saved through bearing children, if she continues in faith and love and holiness, with modesty.
1 Timothy 2:15

Let’s dissect a few important factors about women according to Yah.

1. No word exists in the original Hebrew Scriptures that translates as “woman”

Where the word ‘woman’ appears, it was originally “Asha/Ishsha” which literally translates as “man’s companion” or “wife”. There is no separation for ‘women’ to be individuals or individualistic. Women always have been and always will be referred to as “the wife of…” or “the daughter of…” and it’s a blessing to be so covered and protected.

“Then the man said, ‘This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Ishsha, because she was taken out of Ish.” Genesis 2:23

2. The first woman and thus ALL women were created for man

“It is not good for man to be alone. I will make unto him a companion, a suitable helpmeet.” Genesis 2:18

We are honored through stepping into our divine appointment as women. I know it’s easy (especially as a Sista) to feel like “black” women work harder than “black” men. We have more degrees, own more businesses, and we will raise our children no matter what.

But that’s what we were created to do, and our Brothas have such a hard time on their own because it is not YAH’s plan for them to be alone.

MEN NEED HELP, PERIOD. That’s why we exist, literally. “I will make man a helper”. Feminism wants us to use the work ethic and gifts that YAH gave us, and waste it on the world.

We are worker bees. We cook better, we are good with textiles, we birth and nurture children, we are more creative, more colorful, and unstoppable when determined to rise out of the dust. But our families can only be restored when we love being WIVES and servants, instead of just females. We must dedicate our talents into the BODY, the ONE FLESH.

A man is the head, but the woman is the heart. A heart does nothing but get hurt without a sound head to guide it.

3. Women get salvation and honor through divine Order

According to 1 Timothy 2:15, women will be spared and preserved through childbearing, particularly if it breeds in them a loving, humble, faithful, holy, and modest spirit.

Don’t believe it? Look at what YAH has done for ME!

I was rebellious, haughty, unteachable, and bitter. While I had always desired to be a wife, I truly feared it because I watched my dad marry my mom, and then leave her with a toddler and two newborn babies (I’m a twin). I thought, not even marriage will keep a man who doesn’t want to be kept. What’s the point?

But after a very long journey of whoredoms and shame, YAH woke me up, and called me to put away my ashes. I said okay, and decided to save myself for marriage. Was I perfect? Of course not. Never. But did it breed in me a more loving, humble, faithful, holy, and modest spirit? Absolutely!

And since I’ve become a wife, I can tell you, I’m a new person (HALAL HAYAH).

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I’ve learned to seek Yah and not the world. When my husband is irritated, distant, and sometimes rude… I find refuge in The Most High. I see how GOOD Abba is. I get to discover His new mercies each day. I’m learning that extending grace is not just for my husband, but also my own soul.

Women are truly spared and forgiven of our sins when we dedicate ourselves to YAH even when we face soul-crushing matters. Obedience to Him through submission to our husbands is a divine ‘ram in the bush’ for women, a true opportunity to repent. This isn’t to be taken lightly.

4. The plan YAH has for His People, is the plan He has for all women

“And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from HAYAH, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” Revelation 21:2

“And in that day, says Yahuah, you will call me, ‘My husband,’ and no longer will you call me, ‘My Ba′al.’ [Lord, master, god] For I will remove the names of the Ba′als from her mouth, and they shall be mentioned by name no more. And I will make for you a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the creeping things of the ground; and I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land; and I will make you lie down in safety. And I will betroth you to me for ever; I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love, and in mercy. I will betroth you to me in faithfulness; and you shall know YAHUAH.” Hosea 2:16-20

“Fear not, for you will not be ashamed; be not confounded, for you will not be put to shame; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more.
⁵For your Maker is your husband, YAHUA SABAOTH (Host of Hosts) is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the ELOAH of the whole earth he is called. For YAHUAH has called you like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, like a wife of youth when she is cast off, says ELOHAIKA.” Isaiah 54:4-6

Is there anything I need to say at this point? ABBA not only wants to be one flesh with His People, He wants us to REALIZE we are in covenant with Him. To remember our vows. To accept Him as The Husband that He Is and Has Always Been!

He covers us. Provides for us. Leads us. Has mercy on us. SACRIFICES for us. Has literally given us His Life and made us the Keeper of His Home, His Help Meet (a nation of holy priests).

With this in perspective, we can conclude that feminism is not only a ‘women’s empowerment movement’. It’s a DIRECT war against The Most High’s will!

Proverbs 11:16 says graceful women receive honor, but a woman who hates righteousness according to His standards is covered in SHAME.

No one is saying we can’t be hurt. But YAH is sufficient for us, and is the only one who can avenge us. He has given man a specific ordinance to love us the way He loves His Creation, to honor us as the weaker flesh, to cover our shame, and to not make whores out of us.

Yah takes seriously offenses against this ordinance, because He has called man to be His heir, made in His Image, called to do Good and Perfect works, glorifying His Name. We don’t have to worry. His Name is ‘Jealous’ (Exodus 34:14) and He is a Man of War (Exodus 15:3).

When we turn to the world in our hurt, the world pimps us out.

But when we turn to The Most High in our hurt, He turns us into pure gold.

If you’re hurting today, stretch out your hands. Seek your Abba, and don’t settle for the gin of the world when you can have Pure Water.