In the Middle

In many areas of my life, I feel like I'm kind of stuck in the middle. I'm not really a newlywed anymore, but I'm not submerged in the early trenches of parenting. Twenty-somethings seem light-years away from me but I'm barely in my 30s. I can see myself in modern worship music but a part of me is planted in the comfort and reassurance of old hymns. 

The current social and political climate has made me feel no different. I celebrate with women around the world today. While I long for equality and empowerment, the other half of me fights some of the messages I'm inundated with along the way. 

I can pinpoint the beginning of my discomfort and it began with the breast cancer awareness marketing several years ago. "Save the Boobies!" was on t-shirts, bracelets and hats. Vague Facebook posts, laden with sexual innuendos, made their rounds all in the name of awareness. Women who boycotted a Disney movie were now posting, "I like it on the table" as their status. 

Somewhere along the way, we equated our bodies and body parts with who we are as women. We don't want to be objectified or labeled, but we have made a tragic disease about how we look in a bikini top. 

And it has only escalated in recent years. The women's marches around the world were impressive; they were a wonderful display of bravery and an accurate demand for equality in areas that are still lacking for us. 

But, in my opinion, we have let our own body objectification get in the way once again. It creates a noise so loud that it causes people to turn away and miss the point completely.

I can't say to the world that I am more than my genitalia and then walk around town dressed as my own private parts. I can't demand that the world treat me with respect and then repeat vulgarity on a poster board.

This behavior alienates a whole class of women who feel pressured to say "Not my march" when they might have asked important questions and gained information instead. 

If we want to be taken seriously; if we want to be seen as equal and capable, we need to focus on the voice that makes us powerful instead of the body part that makes us female. 

I pray that God gives us all wisdom as we tread these sensitive times. These are important days, months and years ahead. And standing up will be our duty. 

But let's stand on our virtues; let's stand on the God-given gifts we possess as women. 

Only then will our chants rise above the noise.