Adam vs. Eve: Does Christianity Promote Sexism?

The above is the director's cut for Swedish DJ Tim Berg's single "Seek Bromance". While I love Avicii, I am not a fan of this video. First, notice a few examples of outright but culturally accepted sexism:

1. It is the boy's father who assumes the dominant role and kicks him out of the house. He is seen as large and menacing, an authoritative figure. The video would not have the same effect had it been his mother telling him to leave. The only other authoritative figure in the video is the security guard kicking them out of the casino and he, too, is male. 

2. The girl is always in the back of the car. Even when there are only two people in the car at the start of the video, she is delegated to the backseat. The other boy automatically assumes the front seat. Further, though both males take turns at the wheel, she is never given that responsibility.

3. When the car dies, it is only the two males who look under the hood. It is accepted that girls know nothing about mechanics and cars.

4. Though it's most obvious at the end, the boys gang up on the girl throughout the video. They put whipped cream on her face and leave her to pay for the milkshakes; they take what appears to be her underwear and she is forced to chase them to get it back; they almost ditch her when she goes to the washroom; and finally, they together take advantage of her when she is drunk at the end of the night. Though the first few examples may seem playful and harmless, flirting even, when she is ditched at the end of the video it is evident that it was not all just fun and games after all. (At least not for her..)

If Trothen can argue that Christianity's atonement theories have embedded normative cultural violence in professional sports like hockey, I think it's fair to argue that Christianity embeds sexist values in society. How?


1. God is always referred to as a male. He is traditionally depicted as an elderly (white) male.
2. The Son of God is also male.
3. The apostles were all male.
4. The Bible was thus written entirely by males.
5. Only males are allowed to be priests.
6. The 10 Commandments apply specifically to men (Do not covet thy neighbor's wife.)
7. Various passages of the Bible quite clearly assert male superiority to women, notably Ephesians 5: 22-25:  

5:22 Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord.

5:23 For the husband is the head of the wife, and Christ also is the head of the assembly, being himself the savior of the body.

5:24 But as the assembly is subject to Christ,
so let the wives also be to their own husbands in everything. 

Sexism in the scriptures is also evident in 1 Corinthians 14:33-35: "...As in all the congregations of the saints, women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says. If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church."

and in 1 Timothy 2:11-12: "A woman should learn in quietness and full submission.  I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent." 

Christianity is quite clearly male centered and male dominated, both traditionally and in modern culture. The above passages blatantly assert male superiority: women are expected to be silent, gentle, and submissive, subject to their husbands. The word "subject", according to the Oxford Dictionary, means "a person or thing under the control or influence of another." The Church, then, is quite literally putting females in marriage under the control of their husbands. It further teaches them - demands of them - to be silent and ask questions only to their husband. Women become completely dependent on their husbands, shamed for independent action, thought and inquisitiveness. Hello? Read between the lines and this is an absolute invitation for domestic abuse.

The above are examples of explicit sexism in the Bible. The implicit sexism of Christianity is equally apparent, and arguably contributes to the sexist values rampant in current society. Traditional sexism in Christianity is easily found in various mediums of popular culture today. For instance, in ancient paintings, God is always depicted as male. As said above, he is almost always depicted as an elderly, powerful looking white male with a long white beard. (Association of the elderly with wisdom.) Today, God continues to be depicted as male. In the 2003 Jim Carrey flick Bruce Almighty, Morgan Freeman is given the role of God. Though as a black man he is racially divergent to the typical depiction of God, he is still a male and as such represents the sexist traditions of Christianity in modern culture.

NBC's (absolutely incredible) television show Friday Night Lights is an excellent bridge between Trothen's argument regarding religion and sport and my three-pronged argument regarding sport, religion, and sexism. 

For those of you unfamiliar with this fantastic little drama, Friday Night Lights is a show based on a high school football team in Dillon, Texas. In its initial seasons, FNL followed the Dillon Panthers in West Dillon, before the high school was split into two districts and Coach Eric Taylor was transferred to East Dillon High to coach the Lions. The show's season is basically coordinated with the Lions' football season, with the ultimate goal of course being to reach and win State. FNL follows its players on a personal level, too, giving an extremely realistic view of suburban, middle class America: "Friday Night Lights has never obtained a sizable audience; however, it has been a critical success, lauded for its realistic portrayal of Middle America and deep personal exploration of its central characters." On the surface, the show is about a high school football team working towards victory. In fact, however, the show probes some of the most sensitive and important issues facing contemporary Middle America.

The small town of Dillon, Texas is rooted in two things: God, and football. I am going to try to make sense on paper of what makes sense in my head.

Our first premise is that, as argued above, the Christian religion is inherently sexist. It follows that a town strongly rooted in the Christian tradition would have its inherently sexist values embedded in it. Thus, because of its Christian roots, the town of Dillon, Texas is a sexist town oriented towards men.

Our second premise is that, as argued by Trothen, sport is a modern religion. Sport is a culturally relevant form of religion that espouses various aspects of traditional Christianity. In Dillon, Texas, the townspeople attend Friday night games as they do service on Sundays. They are united in their love and adoration of the football team. They are united in their hatred of a loss, and in their dislike towards the opposing team. The team's star players - particularly the quarterback - are the town's heroes just as Jesus is the hero of Christianity. The heroes on all fronts are male.

Third, then, it follows that sexism in sport is accepted as a cultural norm because of the sexist values that Christianity has embedded into today's society, particularly in small extremely homogeneous towns like Dillon.

 Coach Eric Taylor has two daughters, Julie and Gracie-Bell. Julie was a freshman in high school in Season 1 of FNL, and by FNL's final season, she was navigating her first year of college. Julie slept with one of her TA's in her first semester of college and consequently, completely emotionally derailed. She left college to return home and a few episodes later, left to Chicago to chase down her former boyfriend - and former Panthers' QB - Matt Saracen. Evidently, Julie bounces from male to male, boyfriend to fizzled love interest and back again, unable to find security in independence. Any psychology textbook will tell you that girls like this have "daddy issues" - because they lacked sufficient love and attention from their fathers growing up, they look to love, sex, and romance to provide this for them.

The irony in Friday Night Lights is that Coach Eric Taylor is painted as a hero. He is the soul, strength, and backbone of the football team and as such, the heart of Dillon, Texas. He is portrayed as a man who loves his boys. He is loyal to his star QB Jason Street after Street's paralysis in Season One. He sees potential in Vince Howard, saves him from the streets and a future surely spent in jail, and trains him to be a star. He does not merely commodify Vince as a football player - he takes the young teen and transforms him from a violent, troublesome ghetto kid to a an honorable young man with a bright future. Vince has no father, and Coach becomes that figure for him, showing unwavering faith in him throughout his troubles. Similarly, Coach gives a moving and poignant speech for former fullback Tim Riggins when Riggins is seeking parole from jail. It is because of Coach's words that Riggins is released and following this, Coach makes an effort to ensure Riggins that he will provide him with anything he needs. Brotherhood between Coach and his football players is more than apparent, both on the field and off. Numerous scenes throughout FNL have Coach paying visits to players' homes to check up on them and ensure their well-being, or have players come in to Coach's office to get a firm but loving disciplinarian lecture. In return, the players have the utmost respect for Coach.

Yet Julie, Coach's actual child, receives none of this. Throughout the show, the relationship between father and daughter is good - it shows no outright problems or friction - but they are never shown to have as close of a relationship as Coach has with his players. When Julie is on the verge of emotional breakdown, Coach notices none of it. Every emotional lecture Julie is given come from Tami Taylor, her mother. Yet when Julie returns home from college in shame after her affair with the TA, Coach Taylor is disgusted with his daughter. He is furious, ashamed, upset. He blames her and he blames the TA. Nowhere is it even implied that he has any fault in the matter. He does not speak to Julie - even finding it difficult to look at her - for the majority of two episodes. The most ironic part? In being so upset with her and with her situation, Coach walks out of  a practice and considers skipping a game. Finally, he has a change of heart and speeds to the game, later than he's ever been, but on time. Everyone breathes a sigh of relief - Coach has not ditched his boys after all.

The sexism here is undeniable. Coach has never put his daughter before the team, even in a time of obvious need. The players are his sons far more than Julie is his daughter. This is accepted - encouraged, even - as a cultural norm. A town like Dillon would not be understanding had Coach missed games or practices here and there to spend time with his daughter. This is reflective of the Christian element embedded in Dillon, FNL, and Middle America: the boys are the heroes, so the boys come first.

Male superiority and male brotherhood has been embedded in American society by the Christian religion and furthered by the modern religion of male sports. It is evident in the scriptures, and equally so in popular culture like Friday Night Lights or the Tim Berg music video for "Seek Bromance".

**To further defeat Trothen's argument - as well as my own - we can ask why other popular North American sports - basketball, for instance - are not violent. Basketball and football are of a similar nature to hockey (moreso than sports like baseball); they have been just as exposed to Christianity and the atonement theories as hockey as; and they have to worry about money and viewership just as professional hockey does. Yet neither of these sports is nearly as violent is hockey. The nature of the game defeats my argument that violence in professional hockey is biological, as male testosterone coupled with a human's fight-or-flight instinct is just as relevant to these sports yet violence is not apparent. The economization and commodification of the NBA and NFL, according to Trothen, would promote violence in these sports just as it has in hockey. Yet I want to reiterate that one does not see fighting in these sports as we do in hockey. Why is this?