Feminist Value in Liberal and Conservative Writing

The creation of The Woman’s Bible, a book published by Elizabeth Cady Stanton in 1895, marked the entrance of women into the field of exegesis, that is, interpretation of scripture. Whether or not other women of her period agreed with the points she made therein was irrelevant; any commentary or creative writing by women which involved the Bible was necessarily a kind of feminist work. After all, though men’s Bibles exist today, the Bible itself has always been The Men’s Bible, and thus any text which looks at it through a woman’s eye celebrates Stanton’s feminist milestone.

Stanton’s work immediately tries to put women on par with men in the context of the Bible, starting with the first chapter of Genesis in which man and woman appear to be created at the same time and as equals. Her interpretation is nuanced and contains contributions by various scholars, though readers must be mindful that placing feminist value in the ancient texts of patriarchal cultures can quickly become anachronistic. Furthermore, The Woman’s Bible was often too liberal for the Stanton’s contemporaries, being rejected by the National American Woman’s Suffrage Association. Therefore, readers must also give credit to conservative female writers of Stanton’s time for their place in women’s literature.

A notable example of a conservative, religious female writer is Sigourney whose poetry contained traditional and domestic motifs as seen in her poem “The Ark and the Dove” in which the speaker tells the flood story to her daughter. The simple act of exposing a woman’s relationship to the Bible in her private life is innately progressive. Sigourney’s speaker even goes so far as to make the dove a brave female character, thereby giving her daughter a relatable character in the story. Though the tale maintains a traditional view of Bible and household, Sigourney’s character insists that the Bible as is contains inspiration for women and proper guidance for young girls.

Though figures like Stanton and Sigourney were at opposite ends of the interpretive spectrum, their status as female commentators brings them together. Each demonstrated through an honest and faithful representation of her feelings about and engagement with the Bible in personal and private spheres an example of the variety found in women’s religious experiences. Regardless of their feelings on feminism, each exercised her agency by openly expressing unique thoughts on the Bible.