Defining Woman:
A lot of people today, shy away from defining what a woman is. I wonder: Does it have something to do with the fact that the promised Messiah would come from a woman, who would crush the head of the serpent? Does the serpent hate the woman, to the extent of finding a way to erase the very notion of womanhood?
I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel.
[Genesis 3:15]
God made the above declaration to the enemy of mankind, immediately after Adam and Eve had foolishly sinned.. Since, God could see who was behind the fall of mankind, He did not punish us, who were not yet born, for the sin of our first parents. Rather, He sentences the deceiver to a shameful punishment, while promising to send a Redeemer to our first parents. The devil planned to take down mankind, through woman, (whom, he perceived as weak), and so it is through one Woman’s humility and obedience that salvation would come into the world. It is through this Woman that the devil would be defeated: his head would be crushed.
Thus, the nemesis of the devil is this one Woman; who in time is, a daughter of Eve, but, in Eternity, is the Queen of Heaven. The devil perceived the first woman, Eve, as weaker than her husband. Since, the devil lives in sin, he doesn’t see things the way God sees them. Everything, for the devil is about power and ruling over others, whereas in the Kingdom of God, everything serves everything else, and exists for the glory of God.
Thus, the glorious sun, brilliant in the sky, serves to give light and heat to every creature on this planet: from the smallest to the largest. The sun’s light doesn’t serve itself, but others. Similarly, the smallest microbes buried in the soil, serve to make the soil fertile and give growth to plants, which in turn will give nourishment to man and beast. In the supernatural order of things, the angels of God are higher beings than us, yet, God has given the angels as guardians of men1. The stronger serves the weak. Only a strong man can protect one who is weaker than himself; be he a man, woman, or a child; therefore, we have angels, who are stronger than us, to protect and pray for us. This is their “service” to mankind — to be our guardians.
Women may not be physically stronger than men, (although some are) but we do have our strengths, and men do respect us for these strengths. It is the quality of women to be caring and nurturing. So that women who do not have children, or whose children have grown up, naturally, look to nurture plants, or animals, or serve as volunteers in the community. This is a strength, to go out of one’s self and be of service to others, The soldier does the same, when he offers to serve and protect his country, (by forgetting himself). Strength doesn’t always look the same. The strength of fire, is easily overcome by the strength of water. In everything God has placed its own strength, however, that doesn’t make one superior to another because everything ultimately draws its strength from God and not from itself. This notion of strength, the devil didn’t understand, and that was his downfall. He thought he was the originator of his own beauty and strengths, and he continues to remain in this foolish thinking and tries to transfer this idea of his to us.
Woman as helper
"Thou madest Adam of the slime of the earth, and gavest him Eve for a helper.
[Tobias (Tobit) 8:8]
While some may not like the title of “helper”, the Bible, mentions over-and-over again that God is the “Helper of man”. (Click here for verses about God being the Helper of man.) Thus, to be a creature, made in the image and likeness of God, means that one has an intellect and a will and an everlasting soul. It also means that woman, as the daughter of the Heavenly King, is like her Father and Creator: a helper to man. She is not a helper like a side-kick, or of inferior status; rather, she is a helper who is his equal in terms of being like him.
And Adam called all the beasts by their names, and all the fowls of the air, and all the cattle of the field: but for Adam there was not found a helper like himself.
[Genesis 2:20]
It was to be a helper that God created her. The role of a woman, a Biblical woman is to follow God’s plan for her and for this we have a role model — the perfect woman — the Immaculata. Eve was created to help Adam, the first woman for the first man, but she failed and took all of us down with her. Mary—the Perfect Woman, was created to help the Perfect Man, the Immaculate Virgin to help bring into the world the Savior of mankind — Jesus Christ. But, Christ doesn’t call her blessed for simply giving birth to Him, but rather for obeying the Will of God. She is His Perfect Disciple, His Perfect Helper.
And it came to pass, as he spoke these things, a certain woman from the crowd, lifting up her voice, said to him: Blessed is the womb that bore thee, and the paps that gave thee suck But he said: Yea rather, blessed are they who hear the word of God, and keep it. [Luke 11:27-28 ]
We women, can choose to remain daughters of Eve and run the risk of falling for the devil’s devices. Or, we can conform ourselves to God’s plan and become daughters of Mary, Immaculate, Queen of Heaven, the one who crushes the head of the serpent.
A daughter of Mary, truly has God as her Father.
She is noble if she holds on to her dignity as daughter of such a loving Father. Therefore, being the helper of man, is not a derogatory term, it is actually a very powerful thing to help someone and women are called to do that work of helping man, not competing with man.
So, what is the definition of a woman?
If the creator of a car, can define what his car is, then the Creator of men and woman should have the right to define what a woman is. A woman is a daughter of God, made in His image and likeness. She is called, out from the side of man, to serve, just as man is called to serve, but her service doesn’t compete with that of man, but complements it.
Like Mary, she serves sometimes behind the scenes (Wedding at Cana) and sometimes, like an unshakeable rock — Stabat Mater. While the big fishermen Apostles abandoned their Master; this Woman stood at the foot of the cross, helping the Perfect Man to do the Will of His Father. Again, while the Apostles were huddled in fear, in the upper room, Mary was there giving them strength through her prayers.
It is a wise thing to be what your Creator made you to be. Trying to be something else is a recipe for failure,; you will only make yourself less than what you were created to be. The world is not your friend, it is in fact, one of your enemies2, therefore, it cannot be trusted to tell you the truth about who you are. Any definition of a woman that goes contrary to the Word of God, is a trap. It’s what got Eve (“and you shall be as Gods,” [Genesis 3:5]).
So, how then do we become Biblical women? Do we need a counter feminist movement? Even that would be a worldly solution. What then is the solution?
References and Further Reading:
“.. we must fight for our salvation against our three enemies, the devil, the world, and the flesh.” Baltimore Catechism II, Lesson 25. On Confirmation
Absolutely love the call to be daughters of Mary, not daughters of Eve. I had never thought of it that way!
I especially like this part: "While the big fishermen Apostles abandoned their Master; this Woman stood at the foot of the cross, helping the Perfect Man to do the Will of His Father. Again, while the Apostles were huddled in fear, in the upper room, Mary was there giving them strength through her prayers."
And I always was a little puzzled by the Bible verses where Our Lord addresses Mary not as "Mother" but as "Woman". But your post makes me think maybe Jesus was addressing not only the woman who gave birth to him, but all women who would choose to follow Him. As you suggest "She is His Perfect Disciple, His Perfect Helper."