Women are not only given different capacities for grasping and interpreting various aspects of life but are often strongly gifted in other ways as well, men stand to benefit significantly when they are willing to receive counsel from the women in their lives. The tricky part is that it must remain counsel, not command. Few women know how to give this with no strings attached, especially when they see their wisdom ignored and the consequences prove to be less than pleasant.

Not long ago, the “What is a woman?” question backed some otherwise intelligent people into an unexpected corner. With the removal of biology as the most obvious basis for a response, they were left with the strange possibility that womanhood doesn’t really exist at all. But long before people made it all the way into that corner, there have been many other vagaries in our cultural thinking that have converged to deprive us of what is arguably God’s crowning creation: manhood and womanhood.

On a positive note, this phenomenon could easily be understood as a fatal blow to naturalistic evolution, as there is clearly nothing to be gained concerning human flourishing if our sexual natures are obscured or obliterated. On the other hand, it adds strong confirmation to the biblical perspective that human history is the outworking of a cosmic battle wherein the enemy is intentionally conspiring to demolish everything God created—and especially that which he declared to be “very good.”

Therefore, for those of us who have come to the assurance that what God has created is eternally valid and secure, there is even more reason in our day to seek out all he had in mind when he first presented Eve to Adam—and then, by his grace and empowerment, to live as fully as possible within that perfect design.

What Has Been Lost

We don’t actually know much about pre-Fall womanhood. The primary descriptor we are given is that Eve was created to be a “suitable helper” for Adam. This implies that her very nature was to function in close relationship with another person, specifically a man, and of course eventually with their children as well. It also carries the understanding that there was a designated calling given to Adam that would benefit from what she contributed.

Perhaps we learn more from considering what the Fall inverted in her nature. Her impulse to dominate suggests that the original submissive and cooperative character of womanhood was most directly corrupted. But another residue of the Fall evident in all women still today is their deep sense of insecurity. Thus for them, the desire to control isn’t so much driven by pride (as is true for fallen men) as it is by fear. They no longer trust men, and by extension, they no longer trust God.

Womanhood Obscured

While the presentation and roles of womanhood over the centuries have been notably varied, we now live in an era where these seem almost entirely hidden from view. Through the efforts of feminism, which morphed from mild to militant, women have been drawn into an illusion that they are most fully human to the extent that they live out the characteristics and callings of men.

Strangely complicit in this process have been men themselves, for a few possible reasons. First, the fallen nature of manhood includes a strong pull toward laziness (thus the specific sting of Adam’s curse), and ceding their responsibilities to women was easy enough to do. But even for those who would endeavor to retain their position of leadership, a growing swell of cultural pressure to give women what they were demanding (along with the winless prospect of competing with women) has proven to shape the dominant patterns in modern society.

One of the greatest challenges to restoring womanhood in its true expression is the reality that the women who are most visible and influential are often the ones most ensnared in the deceptions. Young girls are taught, both directly and by example, that they must take and retain control of their lives in every way possible. From one angle, this includes the necessity for a profitable career that can ensure their independence. More subtly, they are encouraged to use their physical and mental female capacities to manipulate and dominate the men in their lives.

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