Highlights of Life

Gender equality….

Friday, March 16, 2007 at 11:38 am | Posted in gripes, male female relationship | Leave a comment

I recently read a post on one of the blogs I tend to read for entertainment:

http://waiterrant.net

Anyways, the “waiter” writes an anecdotal story of killing a mouse that is trapped on a glue trap in his restaurant. As I read the post, I can’t help but feel he has a bit of resentment in having to be a “man” and finish off the task of killing a mouse, even in today’s age of gender equality. The woman squeals over the trapped mouse, and walks away, and the man finishes off the dirty deed.

This brings about a point that has been bothering me for a while. The interpretation of women’s lib, gender equality, and equal rights for women. When I was in my adolescence, having grown up in North America, I completely felt women should have 100% equal rights as any man might have. They deserved the same opportunity. If you asked me, “could women survive on their own efforts?” I think I might have wholeheartedly said, “yes!”

But, as I continued to grow up, I now realize in my adulthood that men and women are not equal. God never wired us equally. We are so very different in the way we think and act and behave. I’m sorry to say, but men are usually stronger than women, and women are the fairer sex.

I also believe that fair is not equivalent to “equal”, as some people mistakenly think. For instance, is it “fair” that a teacher spends more time explaining a mathematical concept to the student with the learning disability than to the student who grasps it instantaneously? Yes, I believe that would be fair, given the circumstances. Would it be an equal division of the teacher’s attention? Absolutely not.

In history, women have often been oppressed and suppressed. The inability to vote, or even be paid fair wages was neither fair, nor “equal”. However, as society has moved onto embrace feminism (which I also have issues with), it seems we have also thrown the baby out with the bath water.

As a female, I’m not trying to have the best of both worlds. However, when the world thinks it’s “fair” for a women to also kill the same number of mice as men… well… something is a askew. I can’t help but notice how many men no longer offer up their seat on the bus, or subway. No longer do they remember the basic fact that women ARE the weaker sex, and don’t pack the same amount of brawn that they do. Women can’t lift the same amount of weight that they can, and actually do find it more difficult to lift heavy things.

I guess gender issues are something, we as a society often struggle with. I see it happen in every day-to-day life, as well as in the church. How do we approach gender roles? What is the role of women in the church? I vaguely recall hearing something about gender issues in my university years, and how it all began with Adam and Eve.

In today’s fallen world, there still must be a balance that we as Christians can hold towards treating the other gender. How do we get rid of chauvinistic thoughts, oppression of women, and fanatical feminism? How can we find the right approach in gender relationships?

I don’t have the solution. But I do know that when men in society forget basic manners, and forget that women are physically, emotionally and perhaps even behaviorally wired differently from them… it is a sad day. It is the beginning of women and men beginning to forget that God actually intended the 2 different genders to be be complimentary and helpful to each other.

So the next time you see a woman lifting a heavy object, or standing on a train, please try to remember that you are the man, and offer assistance or help. Off your seat, and be a gentleman. Good manners will never go out of fashion.