Feminism used to demand equal rights for men and women. It appears today that many American women are no longer content with this, they'd like to emasculate, crush, and utterly destroy men.
Part of my issue is that I'm comparing the "world" with Christians. It's not really a fair comparison. First Peter talks about the type of woman Christ-followers should strive to be. I have yet to master the gentle and quiet spirit, but I believe it's something admirable to work toward. It's easy to be vulgar. It's not so easy (at least for me) to consistently reign in thoughts, attitudes, tongue, and actions to be gentle and quiet.
1 Peter 3:3-6 (Berean Study Bible) "Your beauty should not come from outward adornment such as braided hair or gold jewelry or fine clothes, but from the inner disposition of your heart, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in God's sight. For this is how the holy women of the past adorned themselves."
As far as it being International Women's Day, I would much rather see American women helping women around the world for things that are truly equal, human rights. Like the 1 in every 30 women in Nigeria who are still dying in childbirth. If all those American women marching would stand together to help women around the world, that's something I could get on board with. But women who are out to tear other people down? No. I'm sorry. I just can't get on that train.
This quote from the introduction of Eric Metaxas book 7 Women
has stuck with me since I first read it a few years ago.
He writes, “What struck me
as wrong about these suggestions [of women to write about : Ex: Sally
Ride, first American woman in space] was that they presumed women
should somehow be compared to men. But it seemed wrong to view great
women in that way. The great men in Seven Men
were not measured against women, so why should the women in Seven
Women be measured against men? I
wondered what was behind this way of seeing things, that women should
be defined against men? Or that men and women should even be compared
to each other?
“Two
interrelated attitudes seemed at play. First, men and women are in
some ways interchangeable, that what one does the other should do.
Second, women are in some kind of competition with men, and for women
to progress they need to compete with men. This thinking pretends to
put men and women on equal footing, but it actually only pits them
against each other in a kind of zero-sum competition in which they
usually tear each other down.” 1. Source: Seven Women,
Eric Metaxas, pp xiv
As a mother to five daughters, raising little women is continually on my mind. When I think of what would make me most proud of my daughters, I think it's safe for me to say that there is no career, no job, no particular role that I wish for them, other than to be women of God. Because if they choose to follow after God's heart, it doesn't matter what career, job, or role they have. I wouldn't be more proud of one daughter for being a doctor than a daughter who chose to be a stay at home mom. Regardless of your position, you can reach people with the love of Jesus.
So today, on International Women's Day, I would encourage you to pick up Eric Metaxas' book "7 Women and the Secret of their Greatness" to find out why Joan of Arc, Susanna Wesley, Hannah More, Saint Maria of Paris, Corrie ten Boom, Rosa Parks, and Mother Teresa are all women to admire. I'll give you a hint: all of those women stood up for what they believed was right, especially when it wasn't popular.
And so must each of us.
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