Overcoming the Violence of “Virtuous” Womanhood: Liberating Women from the Proverbs 31 Paradigm
“Who can find a virtuous woman?” (Prov. 31:10 KJV). My entire life, I have heard and read messages about the “virtuous” woman, as depicted in Proverbs 31:10–31. Though many herald this character as the standard for godly women, I find her portrayal problematic. She is depicted as a one-dimensional w...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2023-08-01
|
| Series: | Religions |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/14/8/1028 |
| _version_ | 1827728748012634112 |
|---|---|
| author | Lisa Allen-McLaurin |
| author_facet | Lisa Allen-McLaurin |
| author_sort | Lisa Allen-McLaurin |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | “Who can find a virtuous woman?” (Prov. 31:10 KJV). My entire life, I have heard and read messages about the “virtuous” woman, as depicted in Proverbs 31:10–31. Though many herald this character as the standard for godly women, I find her portrayal problematic. She is depicted as a one-dimensional worker bee, never engaged in rest, recreation, or relationship building. Further, her spiritual location and formation go unmentioned. How did such a limited illustration become the religious paradigm by which women and girls are measured? At its root is white supremacist, patriarchal, capitalistic misogyny (WSPCM), employed in churches to consign women to “safe”, secondary status while still using them as workhorses and sources of income to keep institutions viable. Once internalized, women and girls bear the crushing weight of an unhealthy, unattainable achievement, struggling to become a fictitious, unrealistic figure. In this article, I refute the WSPCM interpretation of the Proverbs 31 woman as the standard for faithful, Spirit-filled women, offering instead a liberative paradigm grounded in womanist hermeneutics, ethics, and spirituality. This approach provides a critique of and corrective for the oppressive, erroneous, and dangerous interpretations of “virtue” and “womanhood” that do violence to female personhood, especially in the name of religion. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T23:37:18Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2480d221450640e8acc60c39ead4a1e5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2077-1444 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T23:37:18Z |
| publishDate | 2023-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Religions |
| spelling | doaj.art-2480d221450640e8acc60c39ead4a1e52023-11-19T02:51:16ZengMDPI AGReligions2077-14442023-08-01148102810.3390/rel14081028Overcoming the Violence of “Virtuous” Womanhood: Liberating Women from the Proverbs 31 ParadigmLisa Allen-McLaurin0Methodist Theological School in Ohio, Delaware, OH 43015, USA“Who can find a virtuous woman?” (Prov. 31:10 KJV). My entire life, I have heard and read messages about the “virtuous” woman, as depicted in Proverbs 31:10–31. Though many herald this character as the standard for godly women, I find her portrayal problematic. She is depicted as a one-dimensional worker bee, never engaged in rest, recreation, or relationship building. Further, her spiritual location and formation go unmentioned. How did such a limited illustration become the religious paradigm by which women and girls are measured? At its root is white supremacist, patriarchal, capitalistic misogyny (WSPCM), employed in churches to consign women to “safe”, secondary status while still using them as workhorses and sources of income to keep institutions viable. Once internalized, women and girls bear the crushing weight of an unhealthy, unattainable achievement, struggling to become a fictitious, unrealistic figure. In this article, I refute the WSPCM interpretation of the Proverbs 31 woman as the standard for faithful, Spirit-filled women, offering instead a liberative paradigm grounded in womanist hermeneutics, ethics, and spirituality. This approach provides a critique of and corrective for the oppressive, erroneous, and dangerous interpretations of “virtue” and “womanhood” that do violence to female personhood, especially in the name of religion.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/14/8/1028womanist theologyethicshermeneutics |
| spellingShingle | Lisa Allen-McLaurin Overcoming the Violence of “Virtuous” Womanhood: Liberating Women from the Proverbs 31 Paradigm Religions womanist theology ethics hermeneutics |
| title | Overcoming the Violence of “Virtuous” Womanhood: Liberating Women from the Proverbs 31 Paradigm |
| title_full | Overcoming the Violence of “Virtuous” Womanhood: Liberating Women from the Proverbs 31 Paradigm |
| title_fullStr | Overcoming the Violence of “Virtuous” Womanhood: Liberating Women from the Proverbs 31 Paradigm |
| title_full_unstemmed | Overcoming the Violence of “Virtuous” Womanhood: Liberating Women from the Proverbs 31 Paradigm |
| title_short | Overcoming the Violence of “Virtuous” Womanhood: Liberating Women from the Proverbs 31 Paradigm |
| title_sort | overcoming the violence of virtuous womanhood liberating women from the proverbs 31 paradigm |
| topic | womanist theology ethics hermeneutics |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/14/8/1028 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT lisaallenmclaurin overcomingtheviolenceofvirtuouswomanhoodliberatingwomenfromtheproverbs31paradigm |