Women’s History Month Review: Documentary Daughters of Eve
“For woman seems to be a creature somewhat different from man, in that she has dissimilar members, a varied form and a mind weaker than man. Although Eve was a most excellent and beautiful creature, like unto Adam in reference to the image of God, that is with respect to righteousness, wisdom and salvation, yet she was a woman. For as the sun is more glorious than the moon, though the moon is a most glorious body, so woman, though she was a most beautiful work of God, yet she did not equal the glory of the male creature.”
-Martin Luther, Commentary on Genesis
”And do you not know that you are (each) an Eve?…You are the devil’s gateway: you are the unsealer of that (forbidden) tree: you are the first deserter of the divine law: you are she who persuaded him whom the devil was not valiant enough to attack. You destroyed so easily God’s image, man. On account of your desert—that is, death—even the Son of God had to die.”
-Tertullian, De Cultu Feminarium (On the Apparel of Women)
“On the first post-resurrection appearance of Jesus to women rather than to men: “I consider this was done by way of reproach, because they [the men] had been so tardy and sluggish to believe. And indeed, they deserve not only to have women for their teachers, but even oxen and asses. . . . Yet it pleased the Lord, by means of those weak and contemptible vessels, to give display of his power.”
-John Calvin, Commentary on the Gospel of John
“The transformation that Paul’s vision calls for would not be to let a few more especially gifted women share with a few men the rare roles of domination: it would be to reorient the notion of ministry so that there would be no one ungifted, no one not called, no one not empowered, and no one dominated. Only that would live up to Paul’s call to “lead a life worthy of our calling.”-from Body Politics by John Howard Yoder who despite such lofty words abused 100+ women in predatory patterns that went on for decades.
Blech. Happy Women’s History Month, y’all.
Like Black History Month, Women’s History Month gets a lot of push back. I loved the response from Meghan Tschanz’s husband sharing why it’s important to note it and celebrate it if we can: “History Months were formed to highlight people who were far too often left out of our history books. The accomplishments of men are highlighted regularly in every history class and textbook.” Women are often hidden or maligned in history books, definitely, but also in church history and worldviews, with wide repercussions.
Since my concern is Christian Formation specifically in these pixels, to celebrate Women’s History Month, I want to review the mixed-media documentary Daughters of Eve by Zanah Thirus as a way of sharing a resource and conversation beginning piece.
Only an hour long, the documentary by Thirus, a film-maker and activist, explores the place of women in the Christian world, historically and today. It was $15 to rent on Vimeo, and I would say appropriate for high school audiences and up (there are trigger warnings for sexual and religious abuse as well as some disturbing misogynistic statements). I’m a very sensitive viewer and didn’t find it to be graphic or upsetting/heavy, and appreciated deeply the voices of church leaders, theologians, and therapists who shared their knowledge and experiences.
The film combines interviews with mostly women of color, along with a diverse cast of ballet dancers, a fine-artist and a cellist, all with the gorgeous backdrop of the Epiphany Center for the Arts in Chicago.
It’s separated into six segments:
Rethinking Eve
Was Jesus a Feminist?
Misogyny of the Early Church and Beyond
Sexual Violence in Scripture and the Church: Purity Culture and Sexual Liberation
Incredible Women in the Bible
A Call to the Church
I appreciated most of all the focus on the original languages and cultural context of Scripture, encouraging us to wrestle with what was meant by the authors and what it means for us today. These women suggest like Carolyn Custis James, author of Half the Church and Malestrom, that “patriarchy is not the Bible’s message. Rather, it is the fallen cultural backdrop that sets off in the strongest relief the radical nature and potency of the Bible’s gospel message.” Their words made me even more deeply grateful for the ways Jesus respected, listened to, received from, and incorporated women in his ministry.
The segment on sexual violence in Scripture and the ties between purity culture and rape culture felt especially timely. In a time when pastors estimate that ten percent or less than their congregation has experienced sexual violence and the actual numbers are closer to 25%, in a time when 93% of sex offenders self-identify as religious, the church must reckon with the ways it has created and maintained the environment in which such abuse can occur.
The picture above is from a Bible storybook we were given by well-meaning family members for Christmas. We didn’t keep it for various reasons but “creation order principle of male leadership” was definitely one of them. This is a book made for children and families. It was published in 2017. Most misogynistic interpretations of Scripture are often subtle but this one was especially egregious to me in that it was introducing a strong female character to kids and immediately putting her in her “place.”
I appreciated in the film the mention of women in the Bible whose stories we don’t often tell. Stories of agency and guile and gumption and gall. The Daughters of Zelophehad, Rahab, Esther, Deborah, Mary, and more. It challenged me to think about introducing the stories to my kids and allowing especially my daughter to marvel at the myriad ways women weave through a story and world that is often hostile.
In the final segment of the documentary, “A Call to the Church,” Daughters of Eve invites us to consider how we might more rigorously read Scripture, thoughtfully prepare before teaching that could trigger and harm and deeply reflect on ways that hierarchy and misogyny have slipped (or been pushed) into the way we talk about women as Christians.
An example in real life is Sheila Gregoire whose “fixed it for you” series takes texts from popular Christian books on relationships, sexuality, marriage and identity and corrects them in a way that helps us understand how toxic the original words really were.
*We are using the curriculum she created with her daughters (videos and discussion guide) to talk with our daughter about sex and growing up (a review for another post) because of how refreshingly NOT from purity culture it is and still rooted in God’s design.
All in all, I’d recommend Daughters of Eve to anyone wanting to wrestle with the legacy of misogyny in our faith tradition but also who want to be inspired by beauty and ways of thinking about Scripture and Jesus that are radically affirming of women.
It’s not perfect. With only an hour, there are only so many facets of such a huge topic that can be covered. There wasn’t time to talk about white supremacy and differences in denominations. I wish there had been closed captioning as a way to be more accessible, and a discussion guide could be really helpful for groups wanting to engage it. I especially wished for more stories of how we can do better or of transformation and healing.
But, maybe this March, that’s our job. May we examine what has gone wrong and the legacies we’re still living with and may we search for and create ways that women are honored and empowered in the church. May we hope for better for the Daughters of Eve.
