Journal: Eikon
Volume: EIKON 02:2 (Fall 2020)
Article: Man And Woman: Toward An Ontology
Author: Patrick Schreiner

Eikon 2.2 (Fall 2020) p. 68

Man And Woman: Toward An Ontology

Patrick Schreiner

Patrick Schreiner is Associate Professor of New Testament and Biblical Theology at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Introduction

When most people hear the name Shania Twain, they think of one song: “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!” The lyrics concern the freedom of women to do whatever they want in terms of dress, partying, and having fun. The title is a play on words, Man! I Feel Like a Woman!

In the current culture, some might critique Twain for associating female power too closely with a “traditional” twentieth-century American femininity: hair, dress, makeup, going out with girlfriends. Christians will take issue with her adoption of expressive individualism. She sings about the liberation of women, arguing true womanhood does not mean suppressing the female self.

Much could be said about the song, and I will probably get a few emails for including it here.1 The point I want to draw attention to, however, is that she presses into her nature as a woman. She writes a song for women as a woman. She sings toward and in light of women’s liberation. She explicitly acknowledges the difference between men and women.

For readers of this journal, a more suitable illustration comes from G. K. Chesterton. In his essay “The Romance of Thrift,” Chesterton explains why it is important to treat men and women differently.

I remember an artistic and eager lady asking me in her grand green drawing-room whether I believed in the comradeship of the sexes, and why not. I was driven back on offering

Eikon 2.2 (Fall 2020) p. 69

the obvious and sincere answer, “Because if I were to treat you for two minutes like a comrade, you would turn me out of the house.”2

Both Chesterton and Shania Twain acknowledge the difference between man and woman. Between how you treat them. Between their natures. But this raises the question: what is different about man and woman? What is their ontology?3 What is their nature? And where do these differences originate?

In a recent class on complementarianism and egalitarianism, one of my students raised the concern that we should be able to answer the question of why men are allowed to do certain things and women are not in a more robust way than simply, “the Bible tells me so.” He was advocating that we dig for deeper divine reasons for the guidelines.4

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