“At the heart of Harrington’s critique of feminist thinking is its denial of the fundamental asymmetry between the sexes. As she sees it, women’s capacity to bear children is not a simple addendum to some generic, genderless human; it is the essence of being a particular sort of human, a female human.
“Barr’s book is riddled with serious deficiencies. While there are areas Barr has identified as problematic that are problematic, she does not fairly explain or resolve them…. the faults in the book are grievous enough that they ought to lead both complementarians and egalitarians to find the book deeply dissatisfying.” - Jordan Steffaniak
“Christlikeness looks different in different domains. Just consider: Christ offers particular commands to women and others to men; some to masters and others to bondservants; some to fathers and others to children; some to young men, others to old men, and still others to older women; some to pastors and others to church members.
“There goes my attempt to raise pacifist, nurturing sons, I thought as they grew to embody many boy stereotypes.” CT
Kathy Keller’s review/open letter to the author of A Year of Biblical Womanhood.
I’ve decided that in my next life I want to be reincarnated* as Nancy Drew.
I’m not talking about the newer series post-1970s that’s filled with nasty bits and epic romance—my nine-year-old self was quite content with an amorphous Ned who appeared ever few chapters to escort Nancy to a seasonal BBQ or give her an occasion to wear her new taffeta party dress. And as far as violence, for me it was pretty dicey when Nancy was bound, gagged and left to starve.
No, I’m talking about that classic Nancy Drew that lived somewhere in the magical world post-high school but pre-matrimony. Old enough to drive and travel independently, but young enough to still need her dad. And, always, regardless of the situation, mature enough to help others with grace and style.
I’m not the only one who thinks so, either.
In this NY Times piece, all three women Supreme Court Justices identify Nancy as a formative literary role model. What captured them probably has less to with Nancy’s white middle-class upbringing and more to do with the essence of Nancy herself. As critic Melanie Rehak recognizes, “Nancy was courageous and independent but she never used that independence in an overtly rebellious way. Instead, she used her freedom to have adventures, but they were always in the name of doing good and serving justice.”
And that’s one reason why I’m purposefully directing my daughter to these books. (That and it gives me an excuse to re-read them myself.) I’m not vying for her to be a Supreme Court Justice one day—heaven knows we don’t need the High Court adjudicating whether or not Barbie Fairytopia is in copyright infringement of Disney’s Pixie Hollow—but I do want her to have a robust view of womanhood. I want her to know how to bake a cake for the elderly neighbor next door and have the guts to chase away the intruder who’s trying to steal said neighbor’s family silver. I want her to be smart and kind, pretty and unpretentious, appropriate and daring. I want her to be forgiving and humble, gracious and accomplished.
