Gaines for Girls with Riley Gaines - How Jennifer Strickland Found Purpose Beyond the Runway

00:00:00.000 Hey everybody, welcome back to the Gains for Girls podcast. Thank you for tuning in. Make

00:00:11.800 sure you check us out at outkick.com or anywhere where you get your podcasts. We are thrilled you

00:00:16.680 are here, especially for today's guest. Today's guest is Jennifer Strickland. She is a former

00:00:23.900 international model. She is beautiful. She is a TED Talk speaker. She is an author. She is a wife.

00:00:31.580 She's a mom of three. And she's the founder of a nonprofit called You Are More. Of course,

00:00:36.880 this is a nonprofit that helps women and girls discover their value, identity, and their purpose.

00:00:44.640 But as I said, she was a professional model. She appeared in Vogue and Glamour and walked 1.00

00:00:49.500 runways in Europe. But she has since left the modeling industry. She has written now many books

00:00:55.680 and studies, Bible studies. This is an episode where we will be coming at things from a, of course,

00:01:01.460 an objective lens, but a biblical lens, which I think is important in today's society and culture

00:01:06.360 as a Christian myself. But Jennifer, she passionately speaks across America, again,

00:01:13.320 helping women and girls discover their true worth in God's eyes. So could not be more excited for this

00:01:18.800 conversation. She also has a book. I can't wait for you to see the title. But make sure to check out

00:01:24.860 the interview here with Jennifer Strickland. Well, Jennifer, I am so glad you're on. Of course,

00:01:32.540 I heard about your book. And there was, I was not letting you not talk to me. So really, I just wanted

00:01:39.740 to give you the opportunity to tell us a little bit about yourself and the platform that you have.

00:01:46.360 So I'm a, I'm a wife and a mom and an author, a speaker. I'm a former model. So I came from the

00:01:55.780 media driven industry and became a Christian in my early twenties and started writing books and Bible

00:02:04.320 studies, basically for girls to help them with their body image, help them focus on their gifts

00:02:08.900 and talents and talents and help them find their identity in Christ. Amazing. It's, um, I can't

00:02:14.880 imagine, you know, coming from the world that you came from. Uh, I would imagine again, a world that

00:02:20.880 I, I haven't necessarily been in. I see the way culture is going. I see the way that, you know,

00:02:25.780 Hollywood as a whole is going. Um, but a world that seems very, very vain, uh, that is more interested

00:02:33.000 in instant gratification and, and, you know, monetary gain and different things like that

00:02:38.380 than it is about, uh, real virtues and real morality. So I can imagine the shift that you

00:02:45.200 have seen, um, you know, since making that transition. Yeah, it's been incredible. You

00:02:52.740 know, my first book Girl Perfect came out the month before the selfie became a thing, you know,

00:02:58.080 cameras used to point outwards. I could always tell my kids like cameras are meant to capture

00:03:03.720 memories with other people, you know, instead of just turn inward. And so I had no idea what was

00:03:10.800 coming. Um, when I first wrote that and, and trying to help girls understand that they don't 1.00

00:03:16.460 get their image from the media and so forth. So there's a lot of lies, the media funnels into

00:03:22.100 these girls' minds and it's now it's on steroids. Yeah, that's the truth. Um, 1.00

00:03:28.080 whether it's, you know, young girls, uh, women, I would say the, the lies, uh, that the media fuels

00:03:36.000 to, um, to every single person, humanity, uh, which is why voices like yours are so important,

00:03:43.480 important. Uh, but you mentioned becoming a Christian. Uh, what was that like for you? I want

00:03:49.100 to ask you kind of like that journey. Um, you know, how did you find yourself first, I guess,

00:03:55.180 getting involved with the church and finding your faith? Well, it was just a rock bottom,

00:04:02.100 really just a dark time in my life. I was, uh, working on the runway. I was doing the runway shows

00:04:09.840 for Giorgio Armani and Milan. And I was anorexic because you have to be anorexic to do that. And I saw

00:04:18.200 so much like schmuck behind the scenes, you know, just girls starving themselves for approval. Back 0.99

00:04:26.800 then anorexia was really the social contagion. And I never thought that would happen to me because I

00:04:32.060 had my degree and, you know, I was a straight A student and all of that. But once I was really,

00:04:36.840 really immersed in the modeling industry, I saw so much darkness behind the scenes. And basically I cried

00:04:43.260 out, uh, to God, to see me and to show me that he was real and to prove that he was real. And after

00:04:51.620 that, I started meeting all these strangers would literally stop me in the street and share the gospel

00:04:56.300 with me and invite me to church and helped me, helped me realize that I was getting my identity

00:05:01.840 from the wrong things. And eventually I just read the word and read the book of Matthew and gave my life

00:05:07.820 to Jesus and I left and I'd been in the business since I was like eight years old. So I was 22 at

00:05:13.720 that point and I had no idea what my future was going to be, but I knew that Jesus was going to be

00:05:20.140 walking with me and that that was enough. It's crazy that it, it takes a rock bottom a lot of times,

00:05:27.800 uh, for this realization to occur. Uh, but of course all in his timing and all of the work he does

00:05:35.120 is, is for good. Um, but it's, it's wild, you know, the stand that you have taken now, uh, being

00:05:42.260 unapologetic, uh, in your defense of, you know, maintaining the innocence of, of young girls and

00:05:50.520 women and doing so in such a beautiful light, uh, which I think is important. Uh, you know, we see a 0.99

00:05:55.880 lot of even, even pastors, uh, and other leaders, but, but it is really surprising to me that spiritual

00:06:02.760 leaders, pastors, uh, remain silent on a lot of issues. Uh, I think a big issue that is affecting

00:06:09.040 our girls and women in today's society is, is all the gender stuff. Of course, the LGBTQ, 1.00

00:06:15.580 LB, LGBTQ, I can't even get it right. Plus movement now, um, it's having a big effect. And so, 0.86

00:06:21.960 you know, why, why is it, do you think that it takes people like you and me to approach this,

00:06:28.240 uh, when we have our pastors who won't even do it? You know, I don't know. The wise woman uses her 1.00

00:06:36.900 voice to stand up against the vulnerable. And, you know, they're in writing my new book, I'm a woman.

00:06:43.040 I, I studied the foolish woman and the wise woman. And I saw that the foolish woman, which is basically 0.99

00:06:49.480 what I see in most of the feminist movement, they're beckoning girls to like follow their lead. 1.00

00:06:55.900 And that has just been almost like a thought reform movement, uh, in our nation. And people

00:07:03.140 are afraid to speak against feminism. People are afraid to speak against the, the pride movement,

00:07:09.940 but it's so biblical. It's so black and white. It's absolutely ridiculous that we are created male

00:07:16.660 and female. I think pastors, I don't know, they're being quiet because they're afraid they're worried 0.86

00:07:21.500 about their popularity or whatever. And I just decided that this was a body image issue. This

00:07:28.140 was an identity issue. And my ministry was based on body image and identity for girls. I'd studied that

00:07:34.800 through and through and, you know, written studies and speaking to girls all these years, I could not

00:07:40.540 stand by and just be silent when there's this identity crisis going on in our nation. And they're,

00:07:47.560 these kids are believing lies and a lot of the adults are participating in it.

00:07:52.320 Of course. I think an identity crisis is, is the most accurate, uh, definition of, of what we're

00:08:00.520 seeing. Uh, it's very clear to me, uh, that these people who embrace the gender ideology movement are,

00:08:08.020 are desperately trying to put their identity into something. Uh, but what they have ultimately put

00:08:13.480 their identity in, uh, they will never be satisfied because the only place you will be satisfied is

00:08:18.720 when you put your identity in Christ. Um, and I think that's obvious in the way that, uh, I know

00:08:23.960 the attacks that I've faced and I I'm sure you as well, to some extent, right? Uh, these people are

00:08:31.500 filled with vitriol a lot of times and violence and hatred. And it's, it breaks my heart really.

00:08:38.720 And all, you know, um, I constantly find myself praying for them. Um, but nonetheless, you, we've

00:08:45.380 mentioned this book, uh, this book, I am a woman. And so I feel like it is only appropriate if I ask

00:08:51.780 you outright the dreaded controversial question of what is a woman. This is so simple and so easy. 1.00

00:09:00.760 Woman is a life giver, body, soul, and spirit. You know, the language of Genesis, uh, Hebrew is

00:09:09.520 called the language of transcendence. So when we see in, in Genesis, God created us male and female,

00:09:16.020 he's not just talking about body parts. He's not just talking about chromosomes. And that's why I

00:09:21.360 think the church really has the answer to this question because biblically a female is a life

00:09:28.980 giver. It means that she brings life to every environment she is in body, soul, and spirit.

00:09:34.920 And by the way, I know people argue, well, what if you can't have babies? You're still a life giver.

00:09:40.280 Women was still created to bring life to her environment. And the main way she does that 1.00

00:09:46.540 is with her voice because women set the tone, Riley. And that's where the feminist movement 1.00

00:09:52.840 set the wrong tone for women. They taught women, girls, their bodies were not created to bring life, 0.97

00:10:00.580 that their name didn't mean life. But that is, that is the definition of the word woman. Our name

00:10:05.400 means life. No, no doubt about that. Yeah. Your book mentions, um, you know, modern feminism and, 0.95

00:10:12.560 and how it's harmed women. Uh, my understanding, you know, being, being young, I was naive to a lot of

00:10:19.420 this stuff before. I've always been a Christian. Uh, there's no doubt about that. But, uh, I think

00:10:24.280 I was naive to our society, to the cultural shift, to the feminist movement. Um, but my understanding

00:10:31.780 of what it meant to be a feminist, something I had never considered myself. Um, and because,

00:10:38.160 not because I didn't believe in women's rights, women's sex-based protections, of course I do.

00:10:42.280 Um, but I, I believed that feminists thought that men and women are equal and the same. And that's 1.00

00:10:50.720 where I found the problem. Yes, I certainly believe that men and women are created equal,

00:10:55.340 but I don't believe we are the same. Uh, we're different. Obviously. Yeah, we're different in a

00:11:01.740 way that, yeah, go ahead. No, I was just saying we're different in a way that's not inferior. It

00:11:07.040 doesn't make one sex women inferior to men. No, but we're different in a way that's, that's 0.96

00:11:12.160 beautiful, intentional by God's perfect design in a way that compliments one each other, uh,

00:11:18.180 one another. And so, you know, I just wanted to, to give you the opportunity to elaborate

00:11:22.480 more on, you know, how modern feminism has harmed women in particular. 1.00

00:11:29.240 Well, my body, my choice, for example, is it's really actually a lie. Like I didn't make my body.

00:11:39.840 You didn't make your body. Um, we didn't, we didn't make it. We didn't purchase it. We didn't

00:11:44.740 buy it. Like, so it's not something that we own it. This entire movement is a, is an attack on God's

00:11:52.860 image. When he says like, I created you purposefully and wonderfully in your mother's womb. I gave you

00:11:58.920 purpose before the womb. Okay. That's Jeremiah one five. You know, I called you before the,

00:12:04.800 before the womb and this whole argument about when does life begin and when is it okay to kill a child

00:12:12.660 in the womb? The feminists lied to girls and told girls that they, that it was not a baby in the womb, 1.00

00:12:20.540 that children are not, um, important, that children do not have value in the womb, that they don't have 0.66

00:12:28.020 life. They don't have eternal life and that their bodies weren't really created to bring life. So

00:12:32.160 even, even the, um, birth control pill, I mean, that was a huge thing. And all of the girls getting

00:12:38.740 on birth control pills instead of teaching girls about self-control to protect their bodies and

00:12:46.840 teaching God, you know, boys to be chivalrous and to protect the girls. So children were the problem.

00:12:53.820 Men were the enemy. That was the other main message of the feminist movement. And the third 0.99

00:12:59.460 one is that it was better for women to leave the home and they would find fulfillment outside of the 0.88

00:13:05.520 home. When the truth is, is the Bible teaches us that we are, the women are the guardians of the home.

00:13:11.500 We are the one who protect and set the spiritual tone and the spiritual atmosphere. So there was a

00:13:18.500 huge, you know, exodus of women out of the homes. And then we see what happens like divorces on the 1.00

00:13:27.320 rise, mental health crisis for the young kids. Mom's not present at the home. She doesn't believe

00:13:32.920 her role is to bring life, body, soul, and spirit. And so they lied to girls about who they were.

00:13:38.920 They lied to them about their identity. And they really lied about men, that men were the enemy,

00:13:43.680 men were the problem and being a wife and a mother was a ball in shame. And now here we are in a 0.96

00:13:50.100 society where we, uh, one, we have weak leaders. We have weak men, uh, men who aren't willing to,

00:13:57.020 to have a spine to call out an injustice when they see it, especially men in powerful positions and

00:14:03.980 authority, uh, positions with authority who are sitting idly by watching young girls, women, uh,

00:14:11.560 children, parental rights, all get stomped on, uh, because they're fearful. They're, they're

00:14:16.820 fearful they might lose their job or, or whatever other, uh, scenario that they've imagined in their

00:14:22.440 head that has for some reason, um, allowed them to, I guess, become sellouts. I think that's the best

00:14:28.960 way, uh, to put it here. And in listening to you, I think it's, it's no surprise to me that we see

00:14:36.420 this overall systemic erasure and attack on women. Uh, when you think about it again, looking at this

00:14:46.380 from a biblical lens, um, Satan hates women because we're the ones who bring life. We create, 1.00

00:14:53.260 uh, and Satan hates that. So it's, it's, it should be no surprise, uh, really that, that this is what

00:15:00.040 we're seeing play out in real time. Uh, but you, you know, I wanted to ask you, what are the

00:15:06.900 consequences if we didn't have people like you, uh, people like again, me, uh, many others who,

00:15:14.080 who have been brave and fearless, um, and taking a stand, but, but what are the consequences if we

00:15:19.700 continue to have leaders who do nothing? Well, we're going to have guys and girls sports and we're

00:15:27.940 going to have men and we're going to have men and women's sports. We're going to have men in women's

00:15:32.420 locker rooms. We're going to have men in women's prisons. And we have that right now. I've spent a 0.99

00:15:38.660 lot of time with women in prison. They, they have a very special place in my heart. I can picture

00:15:44.980 their faces. I can hear their stories of all the times I've gone in and spoken in the prison and

00:15:49.940 I'm standing up for them. I'm saying absolutely not. Most of those women were sexually assaulted. 1.00

00:15:55.840 Most of them experienced male violence. So unfortunately this movement, and let me just

00:16:02.400 say something about the men, the feminist movement taught men to sit down and shut up. Okay. They 0.98

00:16:08.720 emasculated men. They said that you don't have any say in the life of my child. I get to choose right

00:16:17.320 over the life of your child. And so basically men became fearful to speak, uh, on the,

00:16:25.840 issue of women's rights because women, very domineering women. Okay. Flooded our culture 1.00

00:16:33.900 with these mantras, like sex work is work, smash the patriarchy. These boots are made for stomping. 0.64

00:16:41.480 So our, our mothers were in, were either part of that movement or in that movement. And now we have

00:16:48.860 women in the government that are teaching, you know, that brought gender studies and, you know, 1.00

00:16:54.060 first it was women's studies. Now it's gender studies into the women's colleges and the men around them 0.64

00:17:00.500 were taught to sit down and to shut up. And so you and I have to call the men back to their rightful 0.95

00:17:08.840 place in human history, that they are responsible for protections for women, that we need their voice.

00:17:16.480 We need their protections and we need them to stand up side by side because actually male and female 0.64

00:17:23.080 unity is how we subdue these spirits of gender ideology, sweeping the nation, men, men and women 1.00

00:17:29.580 together, male and female together. The Bible says we'll be fruitful and we'll multiply, we'll rule and

00:17:36.480 subdue. So the feminist movement wanted to put men, you know, women up, you know, higher. The patriarchy 1.00

00:17:42.980 wanted to say that men were higher, but God says that we're standing side by side. And the only way

00:17:47.980 we're going to win this is together. Absolutely. And you mentioned, uh, previously that you're,

00:17:54.380 you're a mom, uh, you're a mom of three. Uh, I imagine that's a big part in why, I guess it's kind of

00:18:03.200 the, the worldview that you've taken, uh, knowing that you're fighting for them. Um, can you speak to,

00:18:09.620 to what that's like? Well, the mama bears are coming out. Okay. And the men, and hopefully the

00:18:17.560 fathers more and more fathers will begin to stand up. Look, Riley, I am so proud of you and, and what

00:18:24.340 you're doing, but let me tell you something. This is the mom's responsibility. You are being like a

00:18:29.920 mother over the daughters, over the girls. You are having that sort of mama bear mentality, 1.00

00:18:37.120 but this happened in our generation's watch. This happened on our watch. This is our responsibility

00:18:44.820 because if we do not stand up for girls protections and sports locker rooms, all these places now, 0.80

00:18:50.980 and we continue to allow schools to teach children, they can choose their gender, which is

00:18:55.940 a lie from the pit of hell. If we do not stand up, our granddaughters are going to be left with the 1.00

00:19:03.380 fallout. And, and that's serious. And they're going to say, where were, where were our moms?

00:19:09.080 Why didn't they stand up at the sporting competition? What's up with all these parents

00:19:13.520 standing around with these men on the podium, getting first place medals, like the administrators,

00:19:20.720 the coaches, the teachers, the parents should be the ones that are standing up to protect the girls.

00:19:27.960 No doubt about that. Yeah. We have to set an example for the next generation when it's time to,

00:19:36.120 to actually defy the government, right? They, they, we teach kids obey, you know, follow rules. Okay.

00:19:47.480 We also need to teach them when their boundaries are being encroached in their bathrooms, locker room,

00:19:55.080 sports and so forth, or, you know, teachers are insisting that they use plural pronouns or whatever

00:20:01.680 to identify to people and encroaching on their free speech. We need to teach the girls when it is 0.98

00:20:07.960 time to stand up the way Rosa Parks stood up in the back of the bus because she was black and she was 1.00

00:20:14.340 female. And she said, I'm not going to stay, I'm going to stand up in the back of this bus and I'm 0.70

00:20:19.100 going to sit in the front. The Martin Luther Kings, those kinds of leaders, we need to rise up and teach

00:20:25.520 people when the government is lying to them, when it's time to take a stand and use their voice.

00:20:32.620 Absolutely. Yeah, no, it's, um, it's a harmful message to send to, to anyone to ignore their gut

00:20:39.040 instincts, uh, to let their guards down that that's, that's very, and they do it under the, under the guise of

00:20:45.380 progress, but it's, it's deeply regressive is what that is. Um, but you're the founder of a

00:20:51.060 nonprofit. It's called You Are More. Um, I want you to, to speak to what this is, what your mission

00:20:58.120 is, how you are helping women and girls, uh, discover their value and their identity and their

00:21:04.760 purpose. So yeah, we teach the VIP status of every woman and girl, the value, identity, and purpose in

00:21:12.140 Christ. Um, and so I create books and Bible studies and I do online Bible studies in person ones. I speak

00:21:19.760 at events. Um, my entire goal is to help young women find their identity in who God says they are.

00:21:27.780 It's really that simple. It's that simple. And this is a moment in time where the daughters,

00:21:34.780 the women, the girls like you, we need more, more girls like you, but they need to know who they are in 1.00

00:21:41.300 Christ. They, they need to understand first. I am a daughter of God. I'm not first bisexual. I'm not 0.75

00:21:47.760 first transsexual. I am first a child of God, a daughter of God, a light to this world. I have

00:21:55.180 gifts and talents and abilities that give me a purpose. And so this whole sexual identity, gender

00:22:02.360 identity, nonsense, it goes against everything, everything that God teaches in his word about who

00:22:10.040 we are. We are loved, cherished, chosen daughters first. That is our identity. Our identity is not

00:22:15.700 rooted in sexuality. It's in, it's rooted in who God says we are. And this is just, yeah, it's my

00:22:21.980 passion, my purpose. So, well, I love it. Um, everyone can check you are more out at you letter,

00:22:29.300 you letter are more.org. Uh, you can also find your book there, your new book. Again, it is called,

00:22:35.260 I am a woman taking back our name, which I think is just a, a wonderful title. You know,

00:22:40.480 for so long we've asked the question, I mean, two years probably now of what is a woman, but I think

00:22:45.200 it's time we start telling them. We don't just keep ironically almost asking that question. We tell them

00:22:51.320 what a woman is. And so, um, you can expect to find that in her book. Again, I urge everyone to go

00:22:56.940 check it out. Um, but Jennifer, we just appreciate you, uh, the stand that you have taken, how you,

00:23:03.260 how you're able to, uh, balance both the grace and truth and dealing with these topics. Uh, of course,

00:23:11.620 being an exemplar of those things when we're called to be, uh, so we appreciate you, uh, and we will be

00:23:17.140 following you along and wish you all the greatest success in the world. Thank you so much, Riley.

00:23:22.760 And again, I'm so proud of you. Thank you guys for tuning in today. Uh, make sure you go to

00:23:29.420 youaremore.org. That is letter U letter R more.org. Uh, and again, check out her book. Uh, I can't

00:23:37.500 wait for it. It is, I am a woman taking back the name, uh, just an incredible title, uh, a title

00:23:43.800 that I can't even believe she has to actually write. Uh, but nonetheless, very important. Uh,

00:23:49.920 make sure you check us out at outkick.com. Uh, very glad you're here and we will see you again next week.

00:23:59.420 Bye.

Gaines for Girls with Riley Gaines - June 19, 2024

How Jennifer Strickland Found Purpose Beyond the Runway

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