No, the title is not a typo. Femininism, not to be confused with feminism, is the appreciation of all things uniquely female-related. What’s so special about being female, anyway? Well, I’ll tell you. If you’re ever feeling like you need a good dose of Girl Power, take these physical and spiritual signs into consideration.
1. Women are God’s masterpiece.
I’m sure you’ve heard the criticisms of Christianity’s creation story in which Eve was created from Adam’s side as his helpmate. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather be created from a sentient being than dirt. The creation of woman was the final act, the piece de resistance. After creating all that other stuff and before he rested, God created his final masterpiece, woman.
In all reality, who was created first or last does not make one gender superior over the other. My brother and I used to always yell when breaking into a run for the car, “Last one there’s a rotten egg.” And the other would say, “First one there gets to eat it!” I don’t think we actually knew what we were saying. I just remember running really fast to the car but then slowing down as we approached it and looking at each other confused; we weren’t sure who should be the first or last.
Despite this, I still think it is cool that Eve was last.
2. We have uteri (uteruses).
The uterus is the strongest muscle in the human body. Ok, so there is actually much debate on this and it may not be true. Some argue that the jaw, cardiac, or calf muscles are the strongest, depending on your definition of strength. But it is safe to say that the uterus does superhuman actions that a man cannot do, such as push a watermelon out a quarter-sized hole. Okay, so birth is actually nothing like that as discussed in this article: The Watermelon Fallacy.
Despite this, the uterus is still freakishly strong!
3. God chose to be born of a woman.
Of ALL the different ways God could have saved us or even come to Earth, he could have just floated down on a cloud, or burst up from a volcano, or appeared by a bolt of lightning, but no, he chose to enter the world as we all have, through a woman.
Remember how cool Eve was to be the last creation? Well, she also gave women everywhere a bad name by committing the first sin. But the same way we can blame a woman for the fall of mankind we can also blame a woman for its salvation.
Mary accepted the role of God’s mom. Had she aborted this mission, we’d be lost.
4. Women can feed people with their bodies.
Women can literally be life support. Whether she is breastfeeding her own child, acting as a wet nurse, or pumping and delivering to a breastmilk bank, a woman’s body can keep another person nourished and alive!
I will never forget the story about a blizzard that stranded a family in their car on a mountain for nine days. The mother kept her two young children alive with her breastmilk. The father, desperate to find rescue for his family, perished in the snow looking for help. This story epitomizes parents’ love and sacrifice.
5. Jesus first appeared to women.
When something really good and new and exciting happens, who do you tell first? Maybe you just had a positive pregnancy test; who’s the next person to know? If you found out you “got the job,” who would you call right away to share the good news? Probably someone really important and significant in your life to you.
Jesus woke up, got dressed, rolled out of the cave and just accomplished the most significant event in all history. Everyone needed to know about what just happened. And who did he surprise first? A woman, Mary Magdalene. And he asked her to go spread the word. She was the first missionary!
6. Being female is the foundational building block of our development.
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| Embryo at 7 weeks |
At your conception, your parents’ chromosomes combined to form your genes, and depending on how that all went down, usually you end up with either the female genes, XX or the male genes, XY. When you grew as a little teeny embryo, whether male or female, this growth and development was activated by your X chromosome. Not until about six weeks in, the Y chromosome starts directing your physical development to be characteristically male and later the genitals start differentiating. This is why men have nipples. Remember point number 4? Why would men need nipples if they can’t even feed people from them? Well, they got there because their X chromosome was directing their development early on in the womb, and later once the Y chromosome became activated, they were already there and there's no going back. They are proof that we all start out with the basic female blueprint.
Both sexes have unique qualities that are to be cherished and admired. Whether you were created first or last, pushed out a baby with your uterus or… bit something really hard with your jaw? People are awesome! Which brings me back to my core belief that I have mentioned before about each human being having equal dignity and value. Growing up, I felt I was receiving confusing messages about being a woman such as to be strong you have to be like a man, or to be powerful, you have to seduce a man. These messages run contrary to the innate signs that point to our power and strength. These signs are also what make us unique and I've learned to appreciate rather than minimize these feminine traits.
Tip for the day- go out and find joy in your unique qualities, whether male or female and point out unique qualities that you enjoy about others. Thanks for reading!
