“Women already have equality.” “Feminism is taking women’s rights too far.” “Boys are being short-changed in the education system.” These are statements sometimes purported in our media. But where are they coming from, and are they accurate?

While you are at Trinity Western University, take a class that studies gender. We are one of a fortunate handful of Christian universities to have a gender studies institute. Though by no means do gender issues exclusively challenge our society, the histories of Western society and Western religion are ones deeply troubled by them. From witch hunts to church splits over appointments of female clergy, to denying women their rightful place in the history books through omission, our patriarchy is as notorious as any at domesticating women in the worst ways possible: by silencing them. And unlike other revolutions, it’s never really been cool to be a feminist.

Has our society reached equality? It really depends by whose standards you judge. Women maintain the same basic rights as men, however they remain constrained by social constructions, which are tough chains to break. Women are still covertly discouraged from entering “male domains” like sciences and computing. They may fear travelling independently. They continue to earn less than males for the same amount of work. Single moms take a lot of undeserved flak.

Some social conservatives (Christian ones, at that) argue that feminism is to blame for the breakdown of marriage and society. One brazenly suggests that it turns women into “lesbians who hate their husbands and kill their children.” I would argue that some sects of the church, when reading into admonitions from 1 Corinthians and elsewhere, instead of envisioning a kingdom where “there is no male nor female, slave nor freeman, Greek nor Jew,” have selectively used scripture to legitimize our culture’s own existing sexism. Anyone who quotes 1 Corinthians 14:34 to an educated and godly modern woman, a recipient of the same spiritual gifting and the same intellect, is an embarrassment to scholarship and to faith, seeing as they may as well quote 1 Corinthians 11:6, too.

It’s hard to imagine that there is something wrong with one’s own culture, and harder still to confront it. But as no person is perfect, neither is any society; a flawless culture is inconceivable.

Those studying gender are quick to admit that there is brokenness. Studying both power and voice in a number of different contexts makes imbalances and abuses of power evident. This allows for the deconstruction of our own ingrained worldview which, when left unacknowledged, get in the way of self-criticism.

Here’s a thought: Christianity and feminism intersect in their desires for fullest human flourishing, freedom from all forms of oppression and compassion for the powerless. Both involve aims of justice and self-reflection.

The temptation to claim Christ for the ranks of feminism is there, but a Christian feminist needs to acknowledge that would be a reduction of his scope and power. We should look more closely at Jesus’ interaction with women instead of being caught up in quarrels over letters to churches fraught with sexual and gender issues of their own.

The gospel presents us with a cosmos diametrically different to the ruling systems of this world. Let us not be hasty to follow the dictates of a corrupt and fragile world. I believe that we are to include our gender-based conflicts and mudslinging in the practice of “throwing off all that hinders.”