The title hashtag became popular recently to the point that this Huffington Post article was published Thursday: Christian Women on Twitter Unload About Misogyny in the Church. I’m going to encourage you to go visit Twitter and read the tweets attached to this hashtag directly, though, rather than visiting the article. More on that shortly.
So, here’s the background. Christian author Sarah Bessey started the hashtag to make apparent male privilege in Christian circles. Good for her! I went to church last week for the first time in many years and it was lovely, but I know from experience that this is an important conversation and I’m really happy that Twitter has taken it up. Some of the tweets from Christian male allies are especially encouraging!
One thing bugs me. (Okay, two things. The “only” in the hashtag bugs me, too, since male privilege/aggression in religious contexts is common.) This is a paragraph from the Huffington Post article:
Bessey acknowledged she couldn’t vouch that every single tweet reflected things the women have actually heard, verbatim. But she noted, “For my own contributions: each statement was said to me, about me, in front of me.”
WHY??!!
Can we please, please believe women when they tell us about their experiences instead of trying to derail the conversation and make it about whether women are credible sources or not? There are so few places where you’d see a statement like this about any news story regarding men’s lives. Instead of leaping immediately to questioning the validity of women’s lived experiences, listen to what they have to say. This is a good first step and it’s so easy. Just. Listen.
Erin Clark Frost 