As a Christian woman, I have been encouraged by the trending hashtag #womeninmalefields

Let’s get this out of the way straight off. I am a woman of a certain age. I was born in the late Sixties, I sported legwarmers and mohair batwing jumpers without a trace of irony (in my defence, everyone else was doing it) and I’m old enough to remember when microwaves and video recorders were the size of small vans and needed a degree in engineering to operate them. The slightly less lovely side of that is that sexism and misogyny were a daily part of life, largely unquestioned.

As a girl and young woman, it was never a surprise to me to be disrespected, touched inappropriately and overlooked. That was just the way it was. 

As a girl and young woman, it was never a surprise to me to be disrespected, touched inappropriately and overlooked. That was just the way it was. Let’s fast forward to 2008. I’d just given birth to my daughter and was determined she would never have to put up with all of that. Sadly, sixteen years on, I’m still having to talk to her about feminism, but she comes home from school with stories of how she’s stood up to boys making sexist remarks and my heart swells with pride.

Christian feminism is a gospel issue

So imagine my joy when, a few weeks ago, a new hashtag started popping up. #womeninmalefields. My writerly brain loved the notion of women posting statements online, about men’s dodgy behaviour, boldly and with smiles on their faces. Here’s one example.

’We went out for dinner and he ordered a burger with fries. I told him a salad with light dressing might be better for his figure.’ #womeninmalefields

The trend had begun on TikTok, as so many do, but rather than being ephemeral online flimflam, it was shining a light on the toxic relationship and life dynamics women often face.

I did some research. The trend had begun on TikTok, as so many do, but rather than being ephemeral online flimflam, it was shining a light on the toxic relationship and life dynamics women often face. It was a simple premise. Women shared their own experiences of problematic behaviours, then (with humour), asked what would have happened if they’d acted in the same way. Pretty soon, my Threads feed was full of it and it felt good. Teenage me would have loved to call out those men who thought it was fine to judge me on my looks, hair, clothes choices and response to them, but in the Eighties, I didn’t have that power.

Want to learn about Christianity and feminism? These are the books you need

It seemed that some of the chaps weren’t terribly happy about the trend. I read articles accusing women of being toxic and using humour to damage men’s egos. As a Christian, I try to avoid being unkind and harsh to anyone, but this trend was something different. I read an interview in Newsweek by Lucy Notarantonio in which she interviewed Helen Hester, Professor of Gender, Technology and Cultural Politics at the University of West London. She had this to say:

“These posts are best seen as a form of discursive play in which the world is turned on its head for a moment in order to help us see social relations with fresh eyes. It’s primarily a mechanism for letting off steam – a gesture of catharsis grounded in levity.” She [Hester] notes how social media has become a critical tool for what some scholars call “digital consciousness-raising”, comparing it to analogue practices of feminist consciousness-raising during the women’s liberation movement in the ’70s.”

I thought about women in male fields in the Bible and one person immediately popped into my head. Lydia, a successful entrepreneur who sold expensive purple-dyed cloth in the city of Thyatira (now in Turkey) was the first Christian convert in Philippi. After hearing Paul speak, she and her entire household were baptised. I amused myself by imagining Lydia experiencing sexist remarks in the marketplace and how she might respond.

My journey of sanctification after growing up feminist

I saw a guy selling cheap togas so I winked at him and said, ‘You look so much prettier when you smile.’ #womeninmalefields.

Lydia is only mentioned once, in Acts 16, but the very fact that she is apparently the head of her household and running a thriving business tells us quite a bit about the kind of person she is. I can’t imagine she took any nonsense from the other traders.

In a male-dominated society, Jesus always spoke to women with respect. I wonder what he would have to say about this trend. I like to think he might have smiled.