it's a man's world

being a male is something that
i have been born into, and therefore,
have been conditioned to live the male life.
i've never considered myself to be a man's man,
and wouldn't consider my testosterone levels
to be the highest,
but it is my gender nonetheless,
and learning to be a man above reproach
has been a journey in itself.
having been a male for twenty six years,
i have difficulty imagining life from a
female perspective.
and i especially can't imagine
what it'd be like to be a woman, and to
encounter the bible for the first time.

i'm not sure what emotions would arise
as i flipped through pages of references
to brothers and fathers, with no trace
of sisters and mothers in sight.
i can't imagine the initial shock of realizing
that my gender would be saved through child birth,
or that we would not be permitted to speak
in a church setting.
i could see how women flock to all those
crazy goddess movements and lilith fairs,
just for a mild slice of belonging.

i've often said that context is everything,
and christianity in itself, is a religion that was
birthed in a highly masculine and patriarchal society.
and yet, i can't help but wonder:
how differently would we see and understand god and jesus,
if we even had just a single book of the bible,
written from the perspective of a woman?

what aspects of god's caring and nurturing
attributes would be highlighted in such a text?
perhaps it would help us to view god,
not only as an upright father figure,
but also as a mother,
through his/her affection and devotion.

and maybe we'll let go of those
gender stereotypes along the way.
maybe we could stop being bound by
the restrictions of gender in general,
and allow who we are to define
ourselves and how we interact with our creator.