Proverbs 31 Contradicts Complementarianism

The woman described in Proverbs 31 is ironically lauded by many complementarian women, who tend to look down upon women working outside of the home, as a role model.  In spite of this, the very inclusion of Proverbs 31 in the Bible shows that Christianity does not prescribe one specific lifestyle for women (or for men).  Nothing at all in the passage is ambiguous or complicated, and yet many complementarians still fail to recognize that the final chapter of Proverbs is blatantly egalitarian.

Even a cursory reading of Proverbs 31 reveals that the Bible is entirely supportive of women working away from their families and homes in a way that radiates industry (31:14-17) and strength (31:25).  The woman of Proverbs 31 is autonomous, entrepreneurial, and willing to generously share the rewards she earns for herself.  In contrast, her husband is not described as being as physically active or industrious as she is, establishing that the Bible does not demand that men live as if they must provide for their family (it is astonishing that almost no one comments on how sexist this idea is towards men).  Neither men nor women have any specific Biblical obligations to work inside or outside of their homes.

Proverbs 31 is not the only part of the Bible that contradicts this particular aspect of complementarian nonsense, of course.  The very fact that the Bible does not condemn working inside or outside of the home already refutes the idea that Christianity holds that women belong at home and men belong in an external workplace (Deuteronomy 4:2, Romans 7:7, 1 John 3:4; see here [1]), but Proverbs 31 is addressed far more than Biblical moral epistemology is.  Either one refutes at least part of complementarian ideology on its own; the fact that the ramifications of one are glossed over despite receiving so much attention confirms the myopic tendency of evangelicals to rely on inherited assumptions.

Women are just as capable of functioning in the corporate sphere as men are, and men are just as capable of functioning in the domestic sphere as women are--when affirming that women are free to live outside of traditional boundaries, egalitatians need to affirm that men are just as free to live outside of traditional boundaries.  The genuine liberation of one gender from sexist notions is always accompanied by the liberation of the other gender from its own sexist shackles.  Proverbs 31 is merely one of many Biblical passages that denies legalistic shackles placed on both men and women alike.


[1].  https://thechristianrationalist.blogspot.com/2018/07/identifying-sin.html