The Development of Feminism

On this week’s episode of The About Her Podcast, I chatted with Mary Kassian. Mary has faithfully served the Lord in a variety of roles including wife, mom, author, public speaker, and distinguished professor. She is coming up on her 30 year anniversary as an author, and in those thirty years, has authored several books which have been formative in my own understanding of God’s Word, biblical womanhood, identity, and more.
I greatly appreciated Mary’s balanced approach as she dissects feminism as an ideology, and compares its underlying beliefs to the Scriptures. I have considered Mary a mentor from a distance for many years, and it was an honor to chat with her up close in this very special podcast interview.

Show Notes

In your book, The Feminist Mistake, you outline several waves or phases within the feminist movement. Why is it important to distinguish between these phases/waves as we seek to understand feminism as a belief system and social movement?
In your book, you utilize the word “phase” more often than the word “wave.” How does your organization compare to others who might use the word “wave?” Is your organization unique in any way?
One unique aspect of your timeline that I appreciate is that each phase lines up with an overarching development. In the first phase of feminism, feminists sought to name themselves. In the second phase, they sought to name the world. In the third phase, they sought to name God. What led you to utilize this organization?
If you were to add to this timeline since the publication of the book (as it has been a few years), are there any adjustments or additions you would make as you look at the beliefs of modern feminism?
When did first wave feminism surface, and what were some of the underlying beliefs or assumptions motivating this first wave?
How would you describe the historical context of this first wave of feminism?
Are there any observations that first wave/second wave feminists made that are constructive or accurate?
Are there any observations or assumptions that are destructive or alarming?
At what point did first wave feminism shift or develop into a second wave?
What unique beliefs or assumptions characterize second wave feminism that may not have characterized first wave feminism?
What historical or sociological factors influenced this second wave?
At what point would you say the feminist movement began concerning itself with theology?
How would you describe the difference between secular feminists and evangelical feminists? Are there any important distinctions we should keep in mind?
At what point did evangelical Christians begin to adopt feminist ideas?
What impact did these feminists ideas and their adoption have upon the church’s understanding of Biblical Womanhood?

Notable Quotations

“The feminist ideology that was developed from the 1960’s-1990’s was like an earthquake under the ocean and that caused a tsunami. So, what you have are different waves hitting the shore and the different repercussions, but the ideological earthquake really was contained during that period of time.”

“There were problems within the family unit that began to arise that were tied to this separation of work from the home. All of a sudden, the sphere of work began male domain and the sphere of the home began female domain. Whereas prior to that there was a lot more overlap, after industrialization you saw this separation.”

“We are often fed this line that the motivation for denying women the vote was that women were not viewed as persons. I really don’t think historically that this was the case at all. I think it was just that it was seen that every household had one vote. Then, when there was a division between work and home, this necessitated that women would have to have a voice and should have a voice in terms of the governance of the community.”

“The historical factor that really contributed to second wave feminism was the end of the war.”

“The thing about ideology and Satan’s plan for deceit is that there’s always some truth in it. Otherwise, people wouldn’t fall for it. So, there is truth in the feminist claim that women were being defined incorrectly and that men had some privileges that were closed to women. But, of course, the way that deceit works is that there is a truth and often the answer on how to solve all of those things is sometimes deceitful and we end up going in the wrong direction.”

“Theology is so tied to our view of reality. Once we begin to self-define that is a theological exercise right up front.”

“The gospel gives women such a source of value and purpose and acceptance and affirmation in terms of womanhood and who women are.”

“It used to be that biblical womanhood was simply caught or that it was in the cultural air. There was much more of an understanding of who women were 50-60 years ago and I think what has changed now is that a biblical basis for womanhood is no longer caught, it must be taught.”

“We need to be volitional in terms of looking at the Word of God and seeing what the Word of God has to say to us as women. Then, we need to wrestle with what that means or how it is applied in this day and age and in this culture.”

“The Bible gives us the theological framework that we need to understand God’s design and to apply it to our day and age, and that may look different than a different time, different culture, different place. We need to wrestle with that afresh I think in every generation.”

“You are going to hear a lot of different voices telling you a lot of different things. What you need to wrestle with is God’s Word.”

“Be a woman who is constantly looking for the truth of God’s Word.”