It’s Women’s History Month, but What Is a Woman?

Well, you’ve probably already guessed the answer—many in our culture today (including some of those behind these celebrations) can’t even define what a woman is! Yet up until relatively recently, this wasn’t an issue at all as people knew how to define a woman.

Maleness and femaleness thus become completely arbitrary and meaningless.

How can we have a month dedicated to “the vital role of women in American history” if, as a society, we don’t know and can’t agree on what a woman is? Without a standard for male and female, the achievements of women aren’t anything special because there’s no such thing as a woman (or a man for that matter). So why should we care what women have contributed to society if a man can put on makeup and a dress and “become” a woman if he so chooses? Maleness and femaleness thus become completely arbitrary and meaningless.

Many secularists want months like Women’s History Month so the hard work of women isn’t forgotten—but at the same time, they want to destroy any distinction between male and female so that sex and gender are meaningless. But you can’t have both! Transgender ideology destroys the gender binary, ending the distinction between male and female and therefore rendering any attempt to celebrate or remember one or the other of the sexes as impossible.

It’s all part of the war on women (which is really a subset of the war on mankind) that Satan has been waging since the garden, when he tempted Eve to rebel against God’s command. Satan was then told that his certain doom would come through the seed of the woman (Genesis 3:15), and Satan has sought to destroy women ever since (indeed, he’s been seeking to destroy all mankind—that’s what he does—kills, steals, and destroys, as John 10:10 says).

This current war on women is utter foolishness—even a young child knows the difference between a man and a woman. But in a culture unmoored from the truth of God’s Word and the absolutes of Christianity, there is no basis for truth (even obvious biological truth!) and no standard for what it means to be a man or a woman.

But those of us who have God’s Word can define what a woman is because God has done that for us in his Word, beginning in Genesis. In his new book, AiG’s Executive CEO, Martyn Iles, defines a woman when he writes,

When the woman is made second, she is commissioned with a single word which describes her God-given purpose as a woman. She is commissioned as “helper.” This charge is given to her in relation to “the man” — which speaks of a focus toward persons. Then, in the following chapter, she is described as “mother.”

When the woman is made second, she is commissioned with a single word which describes her God-given purpose as a woman.

The Hebrew word translated “helper” is ayzer. It means to succor, which is an antiquated but very good word. Its shades of meaning are to render strength, enablement, support, and aid. It may contain a suggestion of an alliance. In a world where power and self-advancement are highly coveted, this strikes some people as demeaning. But God describes Himself with the same word in other parts of Scripture, so He clearly does not agree. His value system is not the same as ours. The woman was at her best when making another person their best. That was her commission. And it spills over into her motherhood too. Only women are mothers, and this is a good and beautiful thing indeed — a commission from God, for which she is designed biologically, psychologically, and spiritually.

When God called the woman a helper, to succor another, He told us something about her femininity. It is something that matches with the findings of modern psychology. Namely, women tend to have special abilities in the interpersonal realm. The phrase “a woman’s intuition” has a basis in reality. Their interpersonal antennas tend to be finely tuned.

Women are far more interested in matters of relationship and personality, as opposed to bricks, mortar, electronics, and such like. It’s a distinction between people and things. Or to turn Genesis 2 into metaphor, a woman was made facing a person, while a man was made facing a garden. A person orientation versus a world orientation. . . .

It is why women have faculties that understand people in a way that sees past the words they may speak. They can anticipate needs and meet them. They can discern deficiencies and intercede for them. They can see anxieties and comfort them. They can be an interpersonal strength-giving, life-giving, and nurture-giving tour de force. They can be mothers, they can be wives, and they can find many other ways to succor a whole world of people.

It is hard to ignore the fact that here, great value is being placed on things that our world does not value. It values grasping power, but it does not value the giving of power. It values being strong, but it does not value the giving of strength. It values the exaltation of self, but it does not value the giving of self to another. It values being first, but it does not value being second.

None of these things normally bring a woman worldly notoriety. They don’t put her in the limelight. They don’t make her an independent, self-empowered, corporate climbing, feminist wonder woman who needs nothing and serves nothing greater than herself. This work is very often humble, quiet, unseen, unrecognized, and selfless. It is also risky. When you commit to people like this, you could get burned. It is work that may not get a woman the world … but it will get her heaven. We are often inclined to forget that our lives are lived for an audience of one and the accolades of one. What He values must be what we value. . . .

It may be important to add a comment for those women who are not mothers or wives. I have been asked many times, “What can a woman in that circumstance do?” The short answer is, almost anything. There are some things which might be so at odds with femininity itself that they are ill-advised — for example, some police forces, active military, an MMA fighter . . . . But God places us all in particular circumstances and brings various opportunities our way. A woman should pursue those things and be busy. But she should not forget her femininity. She should not forget those virtues which her femininity is designed to amplify in the world.

It would be only right for her to reflect on what opportunities she might take to develop her femininity or be part of the good impact that femininity is supposed to have on the world in God’s design. Hospitality, babysitting, taking a special interest in children and their well-being, various forms of care and support for all types of people, visiting widows, children’s ministry … there are many examples. As we have already seen, these things are not the hard limits of what a woman can do, but they align neatly with those virtues God called “very good” and amplified their impact on the world through femininity.

This powerful new book, Who Am I?, is an excellent, biblically based and practically focused resource for answering questions about identity and what it means biblically to be a man or a woman. I strongly encourage you to order a copy of this book and a few extras to give to the young people you know.

Our culture is lost in a sea of confusion, but I am grateful that God has given us answers we can equip ourselves with and share with a lost and dying world. This Women’s History Month (and every month), don’t be afraid to call a woman a woman and to stand by the biblical definition of just two sexes in humans—male and female. God’s design is good, it is the truth, and it’s what a lost world needs.

2024 Answers for Women Conference

Oh, and I encourage you to learn more and be equipped with answers at our upcoming Answers for Women conference at the Ark Encounter. There’s still space for you to join us in person April 1–3, 2024, or to watch the live stream from wherever you are (or get a group together at your church) April 4–6, 2024. The theme this year is “Reclaim: Overcoming the War on Women for the Glory of God”—very relevant! I encourage you to make plans to attend live or online and bring your middle-school aged (and older) daughters or granddaughters too.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,
Ken

This item was written with the assistance of AiG’s research team.