Women Hold Up Half the Sky

Essay written by: Dorothy A. Bauman, CPM - Oct. 2025

"Women hold up half the sky", a Chinese proverb quoted during the communist revolution that took place in China during the early to mid-1900's, turning the oppression of women into the view of what women can contribute to society. Women became recognized as a vital part in the economy, and were put into the workforce, making clothing and much more in the factory settings. China began to recognize the profit of utilizing their female half, noticing that the work got done better, and with more meticulous work, then men's work. China noticed a significant rise in the economy when they began educating their girls and putting them to work.

Yet China still suffers due to their godlessness, the one-child policy, and the oppression from their leader over their people. Asian girls are one of the largest targets for human traffickers, often abused and underprivileged. Despite this reality, Chinese girls today have more opportunity than the average girl in India, Africa or in the Middle East.

Beginning with the Chinese revolution, let's consider the impact it could make on the world if the rest of the world would begin to honour women as equally valuable partners to the man. But before we begin, let us consider the tragedies that are in action all around us today because girls and women are instead being sold as sex slaves, being raped and abused, are oppressed rather than of honored, given for child marriage, and in even more extreme cases, killed for honors. A girl in many settings around the world has no choice, no dignity, no value, and no voice. To name a few specifics, A GIRL:

• Is wanted less than a boy
• Is not given medical care as quickly as a boy
• Is disciplined stricter than a boy
• Is schooled less (if any) than a boy
• Is fed less than a boy
• Has no choice in marriage to a boy or man
• Is blamed first
• Is beaten first
• Is raped as a way of control
• Is sold for sex far more commonly than a boy
• Is paid less than a boy
• Has less job opportunities than a boy
• Works much a harder than a boy

…and the list could go on.

The documentary "Half the Sky" alongside their book themed, "Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide", the authors Nicolas D. Kristof and Cheryl WuDunn, have transformed my worldview. They give story after story of girls and women who were beaten, sold, raped, killed, and much more, telling how these women used oppression as an opportunity to get education and transform their communities. I was deeply moved from watching the documentary and by reading the book, seeing girls and women, over and over, sharing unbelievable stories of the things that happened to them against their will or choice, and realizing how much it is happening all around me, even now as I write! Suddenly, while travelling through the Houston airport of Texas, I watched the hordes of people pass by me as I sat waiting on my connecting flight, through new lenses. "What about that girl? What kind of life is she living that no one knows about? Is she a trafficked sex slave? Is she on her way to be sold as a prostitute to a cruel pimp, ready to imprison both her body and her spirit in a brothel somewhere unknown?" Innocence fades in the face of this stark reality, and men are not easily trusted anymore as senses go into high alert.

One thing I learned in my reading was that so many of the prostitutes are not prostitutes by choice, particularly to start out. Most of them are forced into it even to the point of death. Beatings are a regular part of their life, and so is sexually transmitted diseases including HIV and AIDS. There are many more unspeakably horrific realities that go into this. Many are drugged heavily, and these girls, often half-starved, earn nothing for it. They are kidnapped or lured into it innocently, often at terribly young ages, sometimes even as young as 3 years old, but more commonly at ages 8 through 12. I will not describe here everything that I read in the book, but the numbers at which girls are being trafficked super-exceeds the black slavery in the 16, 17, and 1800's. This was another shocking reality. And these girls are powerless against those older evil men.

Or, are they?

As devastating as this news is, we also read many stories of girls and women who have been determined to find answers and freedom, and have found it by turning their oppression into opportunity. Yet, many, many stories go unheard and are never told of girls that are not so fortunate.

Besides sex-slavery, we see many women and girls dying totally unnecessarily in childbirth and from preventable diseases. In India, girls are viewed as a financial burden to the family whereas boys are viewed as assets. Thus, many push to have boys to the point of killing their own baby daughters. The husband may leave the wife if she does not bear him any sons. Ultrasound to discover the baby's gender is technically illegal since so many will abort the baby if it is a girl. We also see in the Muslim cultures, that women are strongly oppressed in about every way, and child marriage is very common. Women are not of equal value and wives are viewed as replaceable. There are such strict rules over the women that many suffer great and horrible abuse and commonly die or are killed.

There are more women missing from the world today then all the men that were killed in the world wars. Two jumbo jets of pregnant women "crash" everyday from childbirth related complications.

The numbers are astounding. Is there hope?

Kristof and WuDunn give us pointers that have begun to change the world. They focus on education for girls. Statistics show that if girls are educated, they are much less likely to marry too young, get pregnant before they are ready, or to be trafficked. They are far more likely to get a job and to make some income to help provide for themselves and their family, more likely to benefit their parents, their husband and their children, and more likely to have a better outcome in pregnancy and childbirth. Education brings light and hope into a girl's world, and opens up opportunity to go beyond her little bubble and to stand up for herself in the face of challenge and conflict. It opens up avenues of knowledge that allow her the chance to make wiser choices for herself. Education saves lives and defeats poverty. Poverty enslaves. Money can be used to give girls an education, and to give them opportunity to have more choice over their life, and to support themselves. It is good that we consider how we can contribute to these needs!

Then I read the book, "Half the Church" by Carolyn Custis James, a passionate author of women's encouragement teachings. One of the main points that stood out to me and stuck was that, we as women (and men alike), are God's image-bearers. We are called to be "little christs", made after the image of Almighty God, to represent who God is to His people here on earth. The other thing that stood out to me is that, we as women, are called to be Ezer-warriors. What is an Ezer? This word is found in Genesis to be translated in our English Bible as helpmeet, and is found 21 times in the Old Testament. Ezer basically means "strong helper". God is our Ezer, and we are to represent Him by how we help the other half of the church, the men. The woman was created for the man, not to be used, abused and controlled, but to be his ezer, one to balance the pole as the South pole from the North pole. This union is made one, and this oneness is a beautiful thing. Through this oneness, God is able to build His kingdom. If this oneness is broken, the world is broken. Women aren't the lesser, unimportant part, but rather, in equal value, complement the man, and the man the woman. This oneness is our strength; it is the only way we can accurately represent our God, as Three in One, as Christ and the Church. This oneness builds and reflects His glory, fulfilling His purpose, which in turn brings the greatest joy and fulfillment to us, his daughters (and sons).

This is wonderful news! And it gives us a goal to strive towards. The women in the Bible are our examples of how this should play out. The author Carolyn Custis James focuses in on Ruth and Naomi's lives, painting the cultural picture that they lived in back in those days. These women truly were ezer-warriors going against culture and tradition in the face of poverty, shame, adversity and bereavement. The faith and obedience they modeled are astounding. Ruth's obedience to Naomi, to go in the night and walk into the threshing floor where Boaz lay sleeping alongside the young men and uncover his feet, was a huge step of faith against fear. But this wasn't the greatest thing she did… she then had to tell him her mission. Here, she not only proposed for marriage to him, but proposed a great duty that would undertake his reputation, his time, his money and his identity… to redeem his kinsman's inheritance, to take Naomi into his care likewise, providing for both Ruth and Naomi. Boaz's response was a wise and valiant one, most likely spurred into action from of the faith of Ruth. By this faith, Ruth joined into the linage of Jesus Christ who came to save the world.

This story, along with many others from the Bible is there for our learning, to spur us on, to give us hope and courage, and to inspire us to also take the kingdom of heaven by violent force as ezer-warriors.

Now, with the two perspectives that these authors have given us, how can we reconcile the stories of the women of faith that we read of in the Bible to what is happening all around us today? For me, this is a challenging question. How do I, as a Bible-believing, Kingdom-living Christian, respond to the needs of women and girls around me who are being sold, abused, unprotected, and deprived of life-changing, life-saving education? Let's break this down…

I was raised in a protected Christian environment as a pure and innocent virgin daughter (one out of nine daughters and a son) born to my father and mother. Our parents loved each other, never had other sex partners, taught us diligently, schooled us at home, disciplined us Biblically, loved us, and raised us in church. My father was an upright, honest and wise man that I dearly admired and trusted all my life to, and I was free to be an independent daughter, to work for my living, to make friends of wise choice, and to make my own decisions under his blessing. I can't imagine it otherwise! I grew into adulthood and trained to become a Midwife, delivering babies for many mothers both in the home and clinic setting. This work took me into a few different countries outside of the USA where I developed an even-bigger perspective of the world. Part of my purpose in pursuing the ministry of midwifery was for this very purpose: to help women in need as a missionary ezer.

It is easy for me to stick with maternity care, helping those who come seeking my care during their pregnancy and birth. But what about the girls being trafficked, being forced or lured into child marriage, not allowed to go to school or to finish school (which for many, also means that opportunities beyond slavery and even marriage are also wiped away)?

It is imperative that we not grow callused to the needs because they are greater than we, but to continually open our heart to "remember those in bonds as bound with them", to feel the pain, the need, and to reach out with all we have. We can give to organizations that are reaching these girls, to schools to educate these girls, or we can sponsor individual children, giving them hope for their future. We can equip others who have inroads into these situations to be able to better reach them and to help them. We can organize microfinance loans to help start individual businesses. We can provide girls' homes with the help of our churches and communities. We can pray for these girls. We can be the role models for them, and for our own sisters and daughters, showing them through servant-leadership how to be ezer-warriors, and by equipping them with the Word of God, to go out and to teach others also. We can raise our sons to honor women, and to treat women with dignity and value while leading and protecting them in obedience to God. We can teach our daughters to be faithful, obedient and virtuous, to submit themselves under the man God has given them for life, as an ezer-warrior by his side, to bear children and to love their husband and children in the fear of God.

This is our strength, our virtue, and our dignity. …when two become one, when half becomes whole.

Reference: Half the Sky, Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicolas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, Half the Church, Recapturing God's Global Vision for Women, by Carolyn Custis James, The Book of Ruth, Proverbs 31:10-31, 2 Timothy 2:2-3, Titus 2, Genesis 2, Hebrews 13:3.