Womanhood In The Bible Essay

Women in the Bible are respected, cherished, and honored. Within the American culture, however, women are most predominantly not shown dignified treatment. The undignified treatment shown to women is seen most clearly through the lens of popular media (i.e. magazines, television, social media, etc.). In America “too often, the media practices symbolic annihilation” (Stillman 52) where both the behavioral aspects and outward perception of Biblical womanhood are condemned by the media. Magazines and television, in particular, have strong negative influences on how people perceive and respond to women. For example, when magazines place images of over sexualized women on their covers, the Biblical respect for women is lost, as the women on the …show more content…
In the first book of the Bible, Genesis, God created both male and female in His own image (Genesis 1:27). With both man and woman being made in the image of God, both are in equal standing before God; yet, within their equal standing, men and women have different roles. The different roles were created to be complementary, meaning, the roles that God created for men and women are in perfect balance of each other (Genesis 2:23). The complementary role that God created for women includes, but is not limited to, traits such as: wisdom, kindness, service, strength, dignity, modesty, and submission. As evidenced by the woman displayed in Proverbs chapter 31, whose character follows a theme of wisdom and service. The Proverbs 31 woman “opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue” (Proverbs 31:26). Kindness is a quality described often when examining womanhood in the Bible. Moreover, Biblical women do not only teach with kindness, they also serve others in kindness. The woman described in Proverbs 31 values others above herself and cares for them with diligence (Proverbs 31:15). Biblical women are clothed with “strength and dignity” (Proverbs 31:25) and recognize outward beauty to be vain (Proverbs