Women's History Month

On the first day of a Women and Revolutions class in my doctoral program, a woman with a master’s in theology gave her “take” on the biblical story of Adam and Eve: she saw it as having a pro-woman message. Another student suggested that such a reading of the biblical text, though laudable, might be a recent invention by modern feminists. Her response revealed a common misconception—that in past centuries the biblical text has been used only to keep women down.So I searched primary documents to answer the question, “At what point did people begin to believe that the Bible and pro-woman perspectives were compatible?” I stopped looking when I reached the time prior to the printing press, simply because we have few writings of any kind before this time. Especially from women. But A.D. 1400 seemed early enough to me. And in light of March being Women’s History Month, allow me to introduce you to my favorite character from that time—Christine de Pizan (c. 1365-c. 1430).The Italian-born Christine de Pizan figures prominently in the debate about women’s nature. Having moved to Paris at age three when her father became astrologer and physician in Charles V’s court, she received an education against the counsel of her mother. De Pizan’s father personally saw to it that his daughter had access to the royal library. And drawing on the literary skills she developed, she went on to become the first known female freelance writer to support her family. Widowed at age twenty-five with no inheritance, she (ironically) had to support her mother as well as with her three children.And one of her pet projects was challenging misogynous views. Drawing on multiple sources, including Boccaccio’s Concerning Famous Women (c. 1360), De Pizan combined elements from mythology, Roman history, and the Bible to make her case for women. And her positive view of the Bible is evident throughout her book, The City of Ladies. In this book, written in the same philosophical tradition as Augustine’s City of God, she cites examples of biblical women, carefully selecting those who challenge her culture’s misogynistic ideals.Her list included such greats as Queen Esther, who involved herself in a political struggle to save her people; the prophet, Deborah, who judged Israel and led the men in battle; the virgin Mary’s cousin, the prophet Elizabeth, who foretold of the child in Mary’s womb before Mary even announced her pregnancy; and the queen of Sheba, who traveled for miles to gain an education from wise King Solomon.Yet de Pizan used more than the stories of women’s triumphs to argue her case. Referring to Genesis 1:26–27, she also wrote this: “There Adam slept, and God formed the body of woman from one of his ribs, signifying that she should stand at his side as a companion and never lie at his feet like a slave, and also that he should love her as his own flesh… She was created in the image of God. How can any mouth dare to slander the vessel which bears such a noble imprint?”How indeed?