Great post and great conversation!

I know Jim Henderson and am a huge fan of his work, especially his newest book, The Resignation of Eve. I have friends who are also skeptical of a man writing a book to tell women's stories, but the thing I like to remind them is that Jim can write about whatever he wants. As an established author, he has a soapbox and can use it for pretty much any kind of worthy message, and there are dozens of book themes he could have developed. I like to think that this one is Spirit led for "such a time as this," as like you, I am observing a growing consensus among women of faith (and men) that this Christianized sexism has got to stop. 

Jim asked the question, Why do women put up with this? 

To answer this is worthy of a separate post as it is multi-layered. I explore some of the reasons why women endure inequality in the church in my own forthcoming book, Unladylike : Resisting the Injustice of Inequality in the Church.  Some reasons include confusion  and vagueness (as Melody has pointed out) about a theology of ourselves, and I think also a strong rationale that this is a side issue. 

Many of us are convinced that the issue of equality of women in the church is a distraction from the real mission of the church, so it's best we don't make a fuss and mind our manners. 

In my book I confront the tendency of women to trivialize ourselves, our voice and our worth. I am not a side issue. Neither are you. 

I am excited about the new books that came out this past year, such as Why I Changed my Mind about Women in Leadership from Zondervan and also Half the Church by Caroline Custis James (I like most of her book tho she refuses to publicly reveal her conscience about women equality in the church. A diplomatic gesture, I'm sure, but unfortunate in my opinion).  Her book is still a great read and offers some great insights about the collaborative power of women and men together.  

And that is the point : collaboration. Not domination. Mutual collaboration in presenting the image of God and being the voice of God. Together. 

I'll stop here before my comment morphs into a post all of it's own. 

So glad you stirred this up, Melody. Keep stirring!!