I am not a feminist in any way or shape of the word.
Well, actually, "feminist" is based on "feminism" which (according to Merriam-Webster) is 1) the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes and 2) organized activity on behalf of women's rights and interests. Wikipedia's first sentence on the "feminism" is entertaining: refers to political, cultural, and economic movements aimed at establishing greater, equal, or, among a minority, superior rights and participation in society for women and girls.
Okay, maybe I'm a feminist in one sense of the word, but even then, I'm hesitant on saying even that much. I'm a feminist in that I'm game for mostly equality. I mean, I used to be like "of course I'm game for equality".. But my cousin posted a Facebook status a few weeks ago that really got me thinking.
She posted a very gentle "Do you believe a woman should be President?". Normally, I would never respond to something like that, but it got mr thinking. Do I think a woman should be President? Would a woman be able to handle all the duties that a man could? If a woman were on a ballot, would I vote for her? And my response to the initial question was, and still is, no.
Do I believe that a woman can complete all of the required tasks and duties of a man in the Presidential role? Yes. I think we have that same brain power. There have been another nations with women in power, and they've done a great job. I think a woman can do the same job. But, her question wasn't "could" or "can" a woman be President - it was SHOULD.
1 Peter 3:1-6 calls us, as women, to be submissive to our husbands. I haven't done my research, but I'm certain that many feminists have issues with that passage... But based on that passage.. How can a woman take charge of a nation while still being submissive to her husband? I can see imagine a woman President deciding "Hey, let's go to war with Australia" and her husband saying "No, let's not".. As the wife, she should submit to his wishes. Granted, yes, discussion should ensue and they could come to an middle ground ("Who needs Canada?" ;-p), but ultimately.. What if the husband is adamant against the War on Australians.. Then he's the one ruling the nation, and not the wife.
I know that's a very dumb example, but it's the first thing that came to mind.
Actually, the first thing that came to mind was a conversation I had with a friend in high school. We talked about how women are just too emotional to be in that position, and I, as a rather emotional woman on occasion (emotional on occasion, not a woman.. I'm always a woman), completely agreed. We joked that all that someone would need to do to get the female President on your side was to bring her a box of chocolate (I also joked that I'm not a chocolate fan, so Dr. Pepper would be my weakness).
The result of me posting my opinion about whether a woman should be President caused quite a response and some super intelligent responses from people who called me dumb for "quoting such an old book".. My cousin agreed with my stance, and got so frustrated with everyone's "roar" responses that she deleted the entire status.
Anyways..
All of this has been on my mind because of a class I'm taking this semester. It's a "Women's Studies" class. And oh me, oh my.. I've only had one class of it so far, and I can already tell it's going to be a tough semester. We have a section of the material that the teacher calls "Herstory", instead of "History".. And I'm all for finding out what women have done in American history, but man. It's going to be a pain. "Ever notice how even from a young age, girls were treated differently than boys? In elementary school, weren't the boys always getting in trouble for being loud and causing a ruckus?" (My mental response: Um.. Yes. But that's because the boys were being loud and were causing a ruckus.. It wasn't a sexist thing.) "In high school, weren't the guys taking more science and math classes then the girls, which help them get higher paying positions?" (My mental response: When you're in high school, you get to choose your classes.The guys CHOSE to take those classes, the girls CHOSE not to. It wasn't a sexist thing.) "Why is the 'God' that this nation 'prays' to a male?" (My mental response: I had no words for response.. But let's do a pronoun search in the Bible.. How many times does 'He' reference God, and how many times does 'she'?...) She even started talking about how religion plays such a huge part in our culture, and how it's those "religious groups" that are causing all of the issues with abortion (Um, hi? It's murder) and with gay marriage (Um, hello again. The first definition from Merriam-Webster is "the state of being united to a person of the opposite sex as husband or wife in a consensual and contractual relationship recognized by law". Their other definitions were added later on)..
It's just going to be a painful semester.
Why am I taking the class? I don't know. It seemed interesting. And I'm sure it will be. I'm also sure it will be emotional and frustrating. And I'm also sure God has me in this class for a reason.
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