Woman and/in Parables (3): Elizabeth Dowling’s Taking Away the Pound

 

More excerpts from chapter 7 of the revised and expanded edition of What are They Saying about the Parables? 

This post covers an excellent book by Elizabeth Dowling, Taking Away the Pound, which focuses on how and why the parable of the Pounds (Luke 19:11–28) can be a lens through which to view the portrayal of women characters in the Gospel of Luke. Although the parable does not include a woman character—the story involves a nobleman, his fellow-citizens, and his slaves—Dowling argues that the use and abuse of power in the parable of the Pounds represents all who suffer adverse consequences when they oppose unjust power structures. Thus the parable also serves as a paradigm for what happens to Lukan characters who “lose a pound” when they challenge oppressive structures, where “pound” represents anything a person has that can be taken away by those in positions of power. In particular, in the parable of the Pounds the actions of the nobleman are exploitative and oppressive, and anyone who opposes this oppressive use of power acts honorably. In that light, the third slave, whom the vast majority of interpreters see as having failed, actually is the hero of the story because he (1) from a peasant “limited good” perspective acted honorably by protecting what was entrusted to him and (2) refused to participate in the type of “extortion practised and endorsed by his master” (90–91). This resistance is a lens through which to view the characterizations of women in Luke because the pattern of “taking away a pound” is seen in stories where woman characters resist patriarchal ideas and expectations. 

To demonstrate her thesis, Dowling briefly examines fourteen women characters in Luke. Two are in parables: the woman who loses and then finds one of her ten coins and the widow seeking justice from an unjust judge. Although women “gain” much from their characterizations, such as modeling how to offer Jesus hospitality (e.g., Luke 7:36–50) or as exemplary disciples (e.g., 22:26), there are also many times where women lose what they have gained: (1) Some women “speak” and are not believed by other characters (e.g., even though the narrator does not allow us to hear their words, the women’s announcement of Jesus’ resurrection is deemed an “idle tale” by the eleven, Luke 24:11); (2) women who speak are rebuked or corrected (e.g., Martha in 10:40); (3) women’s words are usually not recorded, thus undermining the effectiveness of their voice (e.g., Anna’s prophecy in 2:36–38); (4) women who are demon-possessed, which may “compromise the women’s public voice” (e.g., 4:38–39; 8:2–3; 13:10–17); (5) women who do not speak either directly or indirectly through the narrator (e.g., Simon’s mother-in-law; 4:38–39). 

The two women portrayed in Lukan parables (Lost Coin; Persistent Widow/Unjust Judge) do not “lose their pound”—the woman who finds her lost coin rejoices, and her direct speech is not marginalized by other characters; the persistent widow succeeds in claiming justice for herself—but the cumulative effect of the portrayal of other women characters in Luke is a negative one, and the trivialization of women’s speech leads to the virtual silencing of their voices: “Those women characters in the narrative who challenge the oppressive stricture of public silence for women are seen to ‘lose their pound’” (198). The public voice of women characters is so diminished by the end of the Luke that in the second volume (Acts) “women do not persist in their public roles of prophesying, teaching, proclaiming or healing in Acts” (202). 

Dowling notes that the marginalization of women’s voices is not just an ancient phenomenon and that modern scholars should not make excuses for Luke’s portrayal of women; in fact, there are other places in the New Testament where women’s roles are not restricted in the same way (e.g., Matt 15:21–28; 207). Dowling recommends that twenty-first century readers have “ears to ear” the voices of women’s resistance to oppressive power structures, to acclaim those women characters who resist being marginalized and silenced, and not to use the silenced and marginalized women characters in Luke as roles for women in contemporary society. Contemporary interpretations need to subvert Luke’s marginalization of women and challenge these oppressive practices both in one’s interpretation of Luke and in one’s daily life (214–15).