Patriarchy Is the Curse

 To the woman he said,

“I will make your pains in childbearing very severe;
    with painful labor you will give birth to children.
Your desire will be for your husband,
    and he will rule over you.”

To Adam he said…

“Cursed is the ground because of you;
    through painful toil you will eat food from it
    all the days of your life.
It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
    and you will eat the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your brow
    you will eat your food.”

• Genesis 3:16-19

For generations church leaders (male church leaders) have taught from this passage that women should be ruled over by their husbands. But that’s not what it says.

God is speaking a curse when speaking about men ruling over women. That’s emphatically not the way it’s supposed to be. Just like we work against pain in childbearing by using better medical techniques an medicines, and just like we work against painful toil by learning time management skills and producing work saving equipment (like computers!), we should also be working against the curse that men rule over women.

In a word, God is saying that patriarchy is real, and that patriarchy is cursed.

What are the ways you see men ruling over women in our culture today? How about in your family and friend groups? In your workplace? What might it look like for you to participate in the liberating work of Jesus in pushing against individual instances of men ruling over women? What might it look like for you to participate in dismantling the systems of patriarchy in our world today?