Fight Like A Girl, Pt. 1

“…with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.”

If you look at the action movie fare offered up by Hollywood, you will notice many, many consistent trends. Explosions. Epic music. Car chases. Cheesy one-liners. Women in skin-tight body suits beating the biscuits out of dudes twice their size. Pop the popcorn, y’all, and put on your steel-toed boots, because I’m about to pick on one of those things, and it might step on some toes.

And get me beat up by some 98-pound ninja lady.

Deception – The Cultural Revolt Against God’s Design

In this post I’m going to look at three very specific messages our culture consistently sends us, and lay some groundwork for the more detailed case for complimentarianism that I will begin to lay out next week.

1. Pride and Culture – “This is Right”

I’m not going to spend much time on this point because it is so patently obvious in our culture. The zeitgeist in modern America is straightforward- homosexuality is completely acceptable. Major brands steadily produce commercials starring homosexual couples or alter their logo to a rainbow theme for “pride month.” The stream is steady and the message is clear- this is good and right.

But orthodox, Bible-affirming Christians, at least so far, have stood pretty consistently against this lie of the devil. Scripture is very straightforward that God forbids homosexuality. The liberal denominations, of course, are hastily misinterpreting- or simply dismissing- such texts as Romans 1 and Leviticus 18, but then, what aren’t they hastily misinterpreting and dismissing? For those of us who still believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, the answer to this question remains obvious.

What does this have to do with Natasha Romanoff, you ask?

Hang on to your black leather high-heeled combat boots. We’re getting there.

2. Transgenderism and Sports – “This is Rational”

Meanwhile, in the world of sports, transgender women- otherwise known as dudes pretending to be women- are doing things like sending their female opponent to the hospital with an orbital bone fracture after a UFC match that didn’t get past the first round, or taking first and second place by a full two-tenths of a second in the girls’ 55-meter dash.

And just a quick note- Fallon Fox, the man who bears the aforementioned honor of having smashed a woman’s face in on national TV, is a very physically small guy, coming in at 5’7” and 144 lbs. His opponent said this about the fight:

I’ve fought a lot of women and have never felt the strength that I felt in a fight as I did that night. I can’t answer whether it’s because she was born a man or not because I’m not a doctor. I can only say, I’ve never felt so overpowered ever in my life and I am an abnormally strong female in my own right… Tamika Brents

I can’t help but notice that even as she does her best to use all of the right preferred pronouns, she can’t help but describe the entire encounter in such a way as puts Fox in his own category, distinct from all the women Brents has fought.

Our culture tells us that this is normal and rational and OK. When you hear the opening notes of “Born This Way,” you need to bow down to the gender-nonconforming statue that self-identifies as being golden. If you don’t, you’re bigoted and intolerant, and as such you deserve to be cast into the super-heated furnace of public opinion. And also jail. Definitely jail.

Because tolerance.

Again, left-wing “Christianity,” which is as truly Christian as tofu patties are truly beef, bows and scrapes its way down the wide road, trying to keep pace with the world, the flesh, and the devil.

Again, Bible-believing Christians- and 10-year old Montana farm boys- say “well that’s stupid.” In the case of conservative Christianity, at least when it comes to doctrines of sexuality, we’re usually dealing with real beef… the question is whether we’re 80-20 or 50-50 or 100% Angus.

But generally we are all still standing out there in a cohesive mass on the battlefield saying “I don’t want my kids participating in full-body contact with men dressed up like female dragon-demons.”

3. Egalitarianism in Media – “This is Realistic”

…and suddenly the cohesive mass has scattered, and I am left to face Captain Marvel, Supergirl, Peggy Carter, Maria Hill, Catwoman, Black Widow, Ilsa Faust, Wonder Woman, Rey, Astrid, that lady with the 80s hair that beat up MacGyver, and Lucy from The LEGO Movie… with nothing but crickets for backup. It’s not looking good, folks.

Especially since, unlike Fallon Fox, I was taught never to hit a girl.

Before we get into the realism of female warriors, it would be worth noting that I know very well that action movies, in general, aren’t the realistikest thing ever. Captain America gets repeatedly punched in the face by a bionic arm, Ethan Hunt drives into a car and gets catapulted off of his motorcycle, Jason Bourne is beaten and shot, and nobody has any long-term health effects.

Steve holding down a helicopter in very realistic fashion.

Against this backdrop, how can I pick on female action heroes as unrealistic?

In two ways: first, there is a difference between an exaggeration of reality and a perversion of reality. In other words, it’s one thing to make a movie where a dog barks loud enough to break holes in walls; it’s another thing to make a movie where a cat does so. A dog was made to bark; we are exaggerating what was already within the created design. A cat wasn’t made to bark.

You may disagree, of course, with my contention that women were not intended by God for combat; I’m gonna argue that point in Part 2.

The second way that the unrealistic portrayal of the female warrior is different than the unrealistic portrayal of male warriors is that, unlike Captain America holding down a helicopter, it is done in such a way that it looks feasible. And this lie, having been repeated over and over, becomes accepted as true and normal by the next generation.

I’ve noticed this in myself. My attitude toward this ninja-woman trope had become “well, that’s not right, and it’s a little bit unrealistic.” I had gotten so used to seeing it that it seemed plausible- at least as plausible as everything else in action movies. But then I did some research and discovered that we are not talking about slightly unrealistic here; Hollywood is presenting a severely skewed picture of reality, and it’s one that we as American Christians are learning to love.

To be fair, most of the choreographed male-on-male fight scenes are also severely unrealistic, and boys who get their ideas of how fighting works from Hollywood are in for a rude awakening if they ever get into a fight. But that is even more true for girls, and by presenting this egalitarian combat ethic- and an egalitarian ethic in general- to the young girls of America, we are setting them up for a lifetime of disappointment- and possibly danger.

We’re giving them the wrong dreams and then setting them up for the heartbreak of failing to achieve them.

But It Makes Sense

Now let’s get another objection out of the way. Whenever problems like this in modern entertainment are brought up, the response often comes back “but that’s not feminism… any girl in her situation would have done the same thing!” I mean, if a woman came from a planet of warrior-women down to earth to where she was the most capable warrior in the world, or if she was toughened by life as an orphan, or forced to become a Russian spy, or if she was specially chosen by the Force to deliver the galaxy, of course she would be a fighter! It just makes sense!

Yes, sure, but remember two things. First, even if it made sense how our heroine got there, if God’s Word leads to a different picture of femininity then she should set aside what came naturally and pursue the calling of God. (Pr. 3:5-6)

Secondly, and very importantly, the storytellers made a conscious choice to present these warriors as female. They didn’t have to choose a combative role; they didn’t have to choose a female protagonist; they did both because that’s exactly what they wanted.

Any good author can make any given thing make sense. Harry Potter makes witchcraft look good. 13 Reasons Why makes suicide understandable. TV show after TV show presents adultery, divorce, homosexuality, and all manner of evils in such a way as to make them sympathetic and relatable. It should be no surprise that they will do the same in undermining the Biblical feminine ethic.

If God says that something is wrong, then it is wrong regardless of the character’s backstory.

Also remember that our children will be affected more deeply than we might realize by what Hollywood presents as normal. I was reminded of this when discussing one of the above films with my wife when my daughter- still in diapers- began to passionately rebuke me for criticizing a character she loved and thought was good. They are absorbing like little sponges. We need to be careful that they’re sitting in bowls of pure water.

Instruction and reproof will often lose the battle against affection and desire. Media is crafted to win those affections and desires, and this is part of why we have to take it so seriously, both for ourselves and for our children. (Pr. 23:26)

So we all need to do a heart check before we launch into the detailed discussion. Are we prepared- and desiring- to love what God loves and hate what He hates? Are we ready to hear Him speak? If we come into the discussion with a Spandex-clad high place hidden in the back of the house then we are not going to be able to really discern His will. Sometimes you have to turn the music down to be able to hear the GPS.

But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil. Hebrews 5:14 (NAS)

Are you ready to come with me and explore what God loves? Are you ready to lay aside what may be a favorite movie or character if that’s where He leads? Let’s prayerfully consider these things together.

Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. Romans 12:9b (NAS)

In Part 2, we’re going to look at scientific and Scriptural evidences for the idea that men and women are designed for- and are supposed to do- different things.

Who woulda thought you’d have to argue for this stuff?

And yet we do; thus, I’ll see you next week.

CLICK HERE FOR PART 2

#CaptainMarvel #Feminism #Manhood #Catwoman #Bible #Egalitarianism #Womanhood