The Living God In Women's Voices Summary

The use and misinterpretation of scripture has been used to manipulate gender roles leading to women's oppression. Elizabeth E. Johnson, a feminist theologian also believes that scripture, precisely the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the vocabulary use to describe God, all serve to as a form to oppress women. In the reading "The Living God in Women’s Voices," Johnson states that women’s oppression and gender inequality is established when God is exclusively male. In fact she states that when the speech of God is male, the gender exclusivity of God bringing destructive effects to humanity. To prove this Johnson states:
"it reduces the living God to something much less than God - indeed to an idol...it legitimizes male authority in social structures; in the name of the Lord, King, Father, God who rules over all, men have the duty to command and control: on earth and in heaven. Consequently, spiritually and socially, it robs women of the religious and civic power."
The speech of God however, it not the only variable that
Farley, through her book, Just Love -A Framework for Christian Sexual Ethics puts into position the issue of gender inequality, precisely on the idea of male power. She explains that gender roles are usually established and assembled by males. In other words, gender roles are "socially constructed by male power; defined by men, forced on women, and constitutive to the meaning of gender." With this, she displays the idea that men are portrayed as the dominant sex, hence therefore, they are essentially authorized to set a standard and construct the gender roles of our society. Male dominance can bring negative implications into any relationship. For instance, it sets a stigma towards how women are defined and how they are supposed to behave. More importantly however, it takes away a woman’s ability and opportunity, as it too exploits and oppresses women as a