According to the gospel....

"But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a woman is her husband, and the head of Christ is God."

(1 Corinthians 11:3-16)

"Wives, be obedient to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them."

 (Colossians 3:18)

So, way back in my first blog when I was wondering who, if anyone, is “right” on the matter of gender roles, well my question is sort of answered:  I am wrong, and my whole generation is wrong!  And we shall all be damned for our betrayal of The Written Word.

Or something like that.

Given that Christianity is the cornerstone of Western Civilization and all that it has become, the bits of scripture I have just quoted made me feel a sting of shock when I stumbled upon them.  Have I been doing wrong by the Lord??  Does he expect all women to be submissive and subject to their husbands rule?  Or has the message been misconstrued over time to impart a message that suited maybe a specific church or certain men in rule *cough* Vatican *cough*….

It is irrelevant that you as a reader may or may not believe in the bible, or God, or Jesus – and it is irrelevant that I certainly do believe in such things.  What matters here is the fact that the hold that the Catholic Church had on civilization in the height of the papal reign has shaped our judicial and legal system, our governments, and society’s expectations. I would go as far as to say that conservatism is rooted in the bible and what it deems right and wrong.  Obviously the bible has less relevance to everyday life now than ever before in history, but its only been a few short decades since the conservative attitude was the norm and the fear of God was what kept people from straying too far from what was expected of them.

“And the rib, which Jehovah God had taken from the man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.  And the man said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”  

(Genesis 2:22)

“…and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee” 

(Genesis 3:16)

Well its all very clear now isn’t it!  Know your role, women.  And don’t speak out in church.  And do not do mens work.  And keep your hair long.  And the list goes on…. My oh my how far we have come.

Its been so long since I studied the bible, and probably the first time I am doing so with any real interest.  I’ve determined that if you go to a Catholic School and take religion class, they steer clear of any controversial topics or scripture that may give students reason to dismiss the authority of the bible (speaking from my own experience) and I think it was used more as a tool to teach right and wrong and preach the popular parables without delving seriously into depiction of specific scripture and its relevance to our daily lives. 

Soooo… where am I going with this…. Well upon rediscovering the written word, it has only reconfirmed my perception that gender equality is never achievable.  Men and women were not created equal so how could we ever reach equality?  Men were made bigger, stronger, faster – whether you believe in evolution or Divine Creation, this is true.  Women were smaller, weaker, oh – and according to a library book I am reading at the moment Australia’s Greatest Women, it was not so long ago that it was thought women actually had smaller brains thus were inferior to men.  Laughable now, I know, since academically men and women can be equal – but on so many other fronts we cannot.  Why do we even want to be equal, anyways??  Shouldn’t we be celebrating our differences and the fact that they compliment one another perfectly to contribute to the blossom that is life and humankind?

I don’t know if this is a relevant tangent, but its just popped into my head so im going to talk about it.  Women and beauty.  I think its fair to say that beautiful women generally have an easier go at most things.  We grow our daughters and teach them to be humble and abstain from vanity, but for thousands and thousands of years the beauty of women has been celebrated and, in some eras, (greek, pagan) women were worshipped for their beauty, intrigue and allure.  On one hand, I don’t condone focusing on looks over smarts, but on the other hand why not celebrate what you are blessed with – it is one of the many tools of survival given to us by mother nature, after all!

So, another inconclusive blog by Yours Truly.  The more I let this gender issue roll round inside my head, the more I am inclined to be grateful I have a son – it seems so much less complicated !!!!!  If I have a girl in the future the poor thing may be bombarded with mixed messages of Old Testament scripture, extreme feminism, and contemporary ideologies of human rights.  Oh, but I suppose if I just seek out the opinion of the Head of the Household, the one with the brains, he will have all the answers!!!  Goodness, silly me, worrying my little head with all these complicated issues when I am merely a woman!   ;)