O Dear, Dear Gender Issues, Won't You Arise Again?

I've just returned from a week at General Synod. There were no gender-related issues on the agenda. The Commission for Women brought no recommendations to the floor. And yet, when two women were the only nominees for Vice President, comments on the synod blogs reassured us that "the women's issue" is still alive and kicking in the RCA. Then I returned home, and suddenly bunches of my friends are posting gender-related articles on Facebook - a couple about the tyranny of our appearance-obsessed culture over women (important, but not unusual), and then a more atypical one about the trouble with being male today.

I'm the moderator of the aforementioned Commission for Women. I care deeply about empowering women to use their gifts in the full ministry of the Church. And yet, as I read and hear the various comments made during General Synod, and then read these articles about the wider world, I start to wonder whether what we need is something more than a Commission for Women. Maybe we need a Commission for Men, too. Contrary to popular opinion, I wouldn't be opposed to a ministry that helped men understand how best to use their gifts in the life of the church; I just don't want to create or chair it. Or maybe we actually need to throw out this single-gender advancement business and start a Commission for Working Out Our Gender and Sexuality Crap - because people, it seems we have some issues.

I haven't done a whole lot of factual research about it, but I've observed anecdotally some fairly disturbing trends amongst the men I know. As a result, I agree that a lot of men feel displaced by women's increasing independence and leadership, and uncertain about how to live into their own humanity when traditional masculinity is less valued than it once was. Some men react to that by becoming lazier, or subservient to the woman/women in their lives. Some others react by clinging to traditional ideas of masculine and feminine traits and roles (and reinforcing it with religion, which is where it becomes fun for me). The happiest men I know, the ones who seem most comfortable with themselves as humans and as men, are the ones who don't seem overly concerned with which role goes with which gender, and who have instead chosen to embrace the idea that people are unique and should do the things that fit their gifts, talents, and interests, regardless of their anatomy.

People tend to throw Scripture around when it comes to gender roles, but they seem to forget this one: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28)." I don't really understand how people read that without getting the idea that Christ eradicates all outward distinctions between us and allows us to simply be who we are in Christ. And I wonder, in my idealistic moments, wouldn't it be a great thing if we could get over all of this finger pointing and telling each other what we are and aren't supposed to do, and just allow each other to figure out who we are called to be? But what do I know; I'm just one of those power-grabbing, emasculating, ungodly women.