Studying for soci on the topic of religion, and how there are many scriptural texts that reinforces patriarchy, making women the subordinate.
Off the top of my head, I can think of some that would be referred to. So is patriarchy part of God's will then?
Perhaps this segment from gotquestions helps:
The submission of wives to husbands is also a target of feminist theology. Given that the Bible admonishes Christians to “submit to each other” (Ephesians 5:21) and indicates that men and women are spiritually equal (Galatians 3:28), feminist theology claims that women ought not actually “submit” to their husbands. Some go so far as to claim that marital submission makes women inferior to men.
Once again, this aspect of feminist theology not only defies what the Bible itself says, but it also creates theological contradictions. If the command to submit “to each other” is taken to the absolute, as feminist theology suggests, then children ought to expect submission from their parents. Likewise, if a person cannot be subordinate to another without being inferior, it would mean Jesus Christ is not actually God, nor equal to God, since He submitted to the Father’s will (Luke 22:42). There is a biblical mandate for wives to submit to husbands. Of course, the Bible also says that husbands are to love their wives “as Christ loved the church” (Ephesians 5:25–26), which means to love them humbly (Philippians 2:8), sacrificially (Galatians 2:20), and with a servant’s heart (John 13:4–5, 14–15). The Bible does not give men license to be tyrants over their wives, but it does prescribe unique and important roles for men and women...the role of women in the church and in the home is not inferior to that of men in any sense, but that role does not include headship (1 Timothy 2:12).
- http://www.gotquestions.org/feminist-theology.html
The comparison to Jesus submitting to God is certainly an interesting example. Jesus submits to God, but is still equal to God and not subordinate.
There will still definitely be elements in which the world will scream 'patriarchy', and seen through their lenses its true. After all, if you are not the head in the family, you are the subordinate isn't it? So in that sense if we view it that way, yes women will be of a 'lower class'. That the role of women does not include headship over the family implies that certain rights are being taken away.
If we adopt a worldly frame of reference, we will feel that the gender roles which God calls for are discriminatory. Women are denied the 'better' role so it claims. Who says women can't be the head?
That's not what Christianity subscribes to though. It is the least among us who is the greatest. Jesus came to serve and not to be served. In essence, the head is not greater than the one who serves, they are simply different roles. The reason why the world tries to tell us that women are being oppressed by the Church is because the world values the role of headship more than serving.
With that as the frame of reference for how we see the world, it allows us to better understand how such commands can exist but yet we remain equal.
(On a side note: headship is NOT an easy responsibility. To be accountable to God for the lives that you lead...would I be able to do it well?)
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