Gender Roles: A Discussion on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood

Graphic by Danelle Gonzalez

The King’s College hosted the Difficult Discussions series to discuss issues of life and culture, which dove into the topic of “Gender Roles” on Thursday, Feb. 2. The event included panelists Dami Kabiawu, Associate Professor of Finance, Kelly Lehtonen, Assistant Professor of English and Writing, David Talcott, Associate Professor of Philosophy and Benjamin White, Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies.

The professors answered questions designed to define the pitfalls that stem from gender role stereotypes and to discover views on gender roles that align with Scripture.

Andrea Lopez, Director of Student Services and panel moderator, began the conversation by presenting a definition of Biblical manhood and womanhood from “Recovering Biblical Manhood and Biblical Womanhood in Response to Evangelical Feminism.” 

 Masculinity is defined as “a sense of benevolent responsibility to lead, provide for and protect women,” said Lopez, while mature femininity is defined as “a heart dispositioned to affirm, receive and nurture strength and leadership in worthy men.” 

The professors determined that this is an inadequate view of gender roles, as it is harmful to the individuals whose lives do not reflect those qualifications.

“It approaches both as if the only thing you are doing in life is being wife and husband… what about the women who don’t marry?” said Kabiawu.

The panelist explained that men and women are biologically different, but fixating on these differences does not define the appropriate functions for men and women in society. 

“There are certain limited roles, but there is freedom within the created order,” White said.

The discussion shifted to consider whether the Bible presents a framework for gender roles or if it is exclusively a human construct. The four professors agreed that they disliked today’s interpretation and use of “gender roles” which limits the purpose of individuals to participating in marriage. 

“I think the question is phrased as does the Bible prescribe these things. I think the question is ‘does it prescribe or describe what is actually happening?’... One passage I keep coming back to is Genesis three… That’s one of the passages sometimes used to defend this complementarian view. That there’s this structure of authority. But that’s part of the curse; it’s as if patriarchy as a function itself is a curse,” said Lehtonen.

“This statement was put together around 1990 by evangelicals who were trying to deal with the influx of feminism into the Evangelical church… but I think it’s reductive for sure and is closely centered on hierarchical leadership,” said Talcott. “Everything you need for most of complementarianism can be derived from Genesis one through three. I think that includes leadership function for the man. I don’t think male leadership in society, the church and the home is a result of the fall… If this distinction is ignored, there will be and there are civilizational health effects. An example is America’s fallen fertility rate and insufficient caretaking.” 

White asked whose responsibility it is to respond to the caretaking gap. 

“The problem is traditional women’s work doesn’t make money,” responded Talcott.

 “We don’t think it has a status so we decide it's less valuable than male work, and we try to push women into traditional male work, and you find… a deficit of kids and caretaking.” 

Lehtonen and Kabiawu shook their heads in disagreement.

“There are ways to make it work that allow both partners opportunities to pursue callings God has for them rather than funneling one into caretaking simply based on sex or gender,” said Lehtonen.

Kabiawu added that the Bible does not specify which gender should primarily raise the children. In fact, for some, the woman not working is detrimental to the family.

“[When] my husband goes back to Nigeria, I mow the lawn, I install my AC, I shop and I raise heavy twin boys,” said Kabiawu. “The Bible is clear regarding the purpose of the relationship between man and woman… Women, be submissive and men, love your wives… but leadership definition needs to change.” 

The response from students concerning the topics discussed were generally positive.

“Dr. Kabiawu’s line on how we need to redefine ‘leadership’ in the scope of a relationship between man and woman was something that needed to be said. People have always argued over what the role of a man or woman is in the scope of a relationship in lieu of a faulty definition of leadership,” said Jordan Story, a freshman of the House of C.S. Lewis. 

“I really appreciated the diversity of thoughts on the panel. Especially with a controversial topic like gender roles, it was encouraging to listen to a healthy and productive conversation being had despite the differences in each panelist’s opinion. I enjoyed hearing the personal experiences of each panelist and how it has affected their view on gender roles. I especially found both Professor Kabiawu and Professor Lehtonen’s response to the definitions of each gender role important and thought-provoking,” said Lydia Reigle, a senior of the House of Margaret Thatcher. 

The gathering ended on a hopeful note with the professors giving advice on how to change our premise and navigate femininity and masculinity in the world.

“What opportunities do you have, what gifts do you have and what desires do you have?” said Lehtonen. “We must give voice to all of those things, and seek God’s will for life.”