Vashti: It All Depends on Your Perspective
I was recently in Wichita, Kansas, speaking to a statewide gathering of advocates and law enforcement personnel. I mentioned Vashti as a biblical resource for women. The story goes that Vashti, the queen before Esther, was very beautiful. When the king had a party with all his guy friends, he—in a drunken state—sent for Vashti to come parade before his buddies. Vashti sent word back to the king that she would not come.
If you are Jewish, you probably know Vashti from the Book of Esther in the Bible. You also probably celebrate her along with Esther during Purim, which was celebrated in March.
If you are Christian, chances are you didn’t learn about Vashti in Sunday school. Or if you did, you may not have gotten the whole story.
I was recently in Wichita, Kansas, speaking to a statewide gathering of advocates and law enforcement personnel. I mentioned Vashti as a biblical resource for women. The story goes that Vashti, the queen before Esther, was very beautiful. When the king had a party with all his guy friends, he—in a drunken state—sent for Vashti to come parade before his buddies. Vashti sent word back to the king that she would not come. She said “no” to the king. The king and his advisors were furious, but mostly they were anxious. What if people found out that Vashti said “no” to the king? Perhaps other wives would begin to say “no” as well. So the result of all this angst was that the king fired Vashti. She said “no” and lost her status as queen. This is why the king then went looking for a new queen, who turned out to be Esther.
I see both Vashti and Esther as heroines: Vashti who refused to be exploited and humiliated by her husband, and Esther who used her abilities to save her people.
After my speech at the conference, a woman came up to me and shared that indeed she had been taught about Vashti in church. She was taught that Vashti was arrogant, selfish, and didn’t know her place and was the anti-model of womanhood. Esther was lifted up as the alternative, meek and mild. Of course the irony here is that neither the image of Vashti nor Esther is faithful to the scripture. The conference attendee was amazed that perhaps there was another way to read these stories.
But it does remind us, once again, that if one looks to sacred texts to justify and promote the subordination of women to men, one can easily misuse the texts to do so. It all depends on your perspective . . . and your agenda.
Rev. Dr. Marie M. Fortune
FaithTrust Institute
www.faithtrustinstitute.org
Vashti