'HER"story month
Happy March.
This month is 'Women's History Month.' As you probably know last month was 'Black History Month.' Here's what Morgan Freeman had to say about that;
I'm not sure but I think there is something to think about here.
Unfortunately, secular movements often take on the voice of whoever is the loudest. Because of that I associate a distinction like 'Women's History Month' with misguided feminism. Almost nothing gets under my skin like misguided feminism. I make the distinction with the word misguided because I should say that not all 'feminists' or groups that advocate 'feminism' are the same. Feminists for Life is a group that advocates a vision of women full of dignity, rational thinking and beauty. That being said, the vast majority of people who wear the title feminism appear to be angry, confused or at best, seriously misguided.
I think elements of this type of feminism can be found everywhere and in every situation, even the Church. When I was in college I met a number of religious sisters who, after the seeming liberation of their vocation after Vatican II spent their time freeing themselves of the 'chains' of the very things that heralded their genius. Instead of guiding my young soul to a deeper relationship with Christ and helping me to see what a beauty a young woman of God could be, they spent their time with me angrily explaining why one day women would be ordained and be part of the magisterium. This is how that turned out. I couldn't articulate it well at the time but I did know that every time I parted company with these nuns I felt aggravated and cheated. Luckily at that same time in my life i was blessed to know other women religious who embraced the beauty of what the Church was calling them to. They were smart, strong, beautiful, obedient and happy. Yes, obedient. Yes, happy. The contrast between the two was stark and left no question in my mind about who I would want to be like should God be calling me to a religious vocation.
Look, it's clear and undeniable that throughout history women have been mistreated and discriminated against as a gender. There have been many strong women throughout history that have done amazing things for bringing legal and societal recognition to our equal dignity with men. Thank God for these women. I thank them for their bravery and their sensibleness.
I do think however, the underpinning philosophy of the current feminist mindset needs to be re-evaluated. Here's my take on it;
What began as a legitimate desire of women to overcome the misconceptions and oppression as a whole has turned into an agenda that under the auspices of liberty has led women down a dangerous path that leaves them even more oppressed. Let me say from the beginning here that I don't think there is any one mind behind this agenda. I don't think any of the organizations or individuals behind this philosophy have anything but what they think to be the best interest of women in mind. So, there really isn't anyone to blame. (Actually, there is one to blame but there is lots of backlash for mentioning 'he who should not be named' these days, so I wont.)
That being said I think it's the women involved in these movements who are the victims of their own misguided passion. Thats irony for you. The women who ultimately seek and desire to spread the truth about women's equal dignity end up advancing the lies that keep women oppressed. This happens because instead of a legitimate desire to understand the genius of woman someone bought into the lie that 'equal' means 'sameness' and suddenly women everywhere were jumping on the bandwagon that said in order to be equal to men we need to be just like them.
As a result we've seen a society of women who seek more and more to take on the characteristics and functions of men and a society of men who are increasingly feminine. I'm not talking about 'opportunity' here. Women can be engineers and doctors and scientists and marines and they have been throughout history. All I'm saying is that it looks very different for a woman to be any of those things, to be anything, than it does for a man. Somewhere along the way somebody made the claim that what a man is, is better, and people agreed without thinking. If we're going to be fighting for equal dignity, then it's got to be equal. The idea that we have to get rid of our femininity, that we have to hate the very things that make us women and take on the qualities of men, says by its very nature that we aren't good enough to begin with, that we aren't equal. It's like telling your dog that he's not good enough because he's not like your cat.
So, what we need to do here is distinguish between opportunity and ontology. What I mean by ontology is that which is fundamental to our being woman. The things that make us different are not trivial. The things that make us different are precisely the things that are most beautiful and intriguing, things like our femininity, our fertility, the way we love, the way we think and the way we interact with humanity. Slowly over time we've bought into the idea that being a woman and mother is something demeaning. So, in order to overcome this 'oppressive slavery' of being woman we sought to change our ontology (which of course we can't do) so that we would be afforded 'opportunity'.
To put things in perspective, lets think of it the other way around for a second. Lets say that history had gone quite differently, that it was men instead who had been oppressed for the very fact of being men. So these men, having long been oppressed by a false stereotype over time, desire to be treated with equal dignity as women and in time gain momentum and the strength to do so. They don't want to be stuck in the work place behind a desk from 9-5 going from board meeting to board meeting. They don't want to be doing research in a lab with no human contact for long periods of time and they certainly don't want to be caught up in this dog-eat-dog business world where they are in 5 different cities a week meeting with rude, ruthless CEOs. They want to be where the heart is, in their home. They want to have valuable time with their children, reading with them, teaching them and instilling in them the qualities every father would like to pass on. Sure it's hard work keeping a home and energetic kids in order and they'll have to struggle to keep up with the hectic days but they feel like they are up for it and they are as good as any woman for the job. The only problem is that the hunter/gather instinct in them is too strong. No woman is going to let him be such an integral part of the family if he is constantly being called to conquer, provide and protect. So a drug comes out that calms his testosterone down, allows him to squelch his masculinity. Would he have achieved equality? Would he be happy?
Today, a new movement called HERVotes, that I would lump into this 'misguided' feminism category has launched on this, the first day of 'Women's History Month'. It is guilty of this same confused oppression of women. It's an effort to rally women together to support president Obama into re-election because, according to the movement, He supports real women's rights. He says that you have the right to deny the fact that the way you were made is amazing, you have the right to rid yourself of the very things that make you woman, that you have the right to harm your body so that you can be more like men, that you have the right to kill your children so that you can be successful in the workplace.
I say don't do me any favors Mr. President. I'll keep my fertility and my femininity and the privilege of being a woman. I am the 2%.
One of the most amazing things that I love about being a woman is the ability to use my logic and my maternal instinct in complete harmony. We can understand truths about humanity in ways that men can't because of our ability to love. We can think, really think, and see when we're being misguided and taken for fools and then do something about it in a way that only a woman can do, with love.
Yeah, lets do that.
This month is 'Women's History Month.' As you probably know last month was 'Black History Month.' Here's what Morgan Freeman had to say about that;
Morgan Freeman says the concept of a month dedicated to black history is "ridiculous.""You're going to relegate my history to a month?" the 68-year-old actor says in an interview on CBS' "60 Minutes" . "I don't want a black history month. Black history is American history."He certainly makes a point. Could the same thing be said about 'Women's History Month?' Is it an honor to have a separate month devoted to the history of a certain group or is it patronizing? Yes, History is written by the 'winners' and we usually don't get the whole story or the best story in 'mainstream' history classes or books. But on the other hand is the path to 'equality' or 'liberation' one that extracts a group from the whole narrative of humanity?
I'm not sure but I think there is something to think about here.
Unfortunately, secular movements often take on the voice of whoever is the loudest. Because of that I associate a distinction like 'Women's History Month' with misguided feminism. Almost nothing gets under my skin like misguided feminism. I make the distinction with the word misguided because I should say that not all 'feminists' or groups that advocate 'feminism' are the same. Feminists for Life is a group that advocates a vision of women full of dignity, rational thinking and beauty. That being said, the vast majority of people who wear the title feminism appear to be angry, confused or at best, seriously misguided.
I think elements of this type of feminism can be found everywhere and in every situation, even the Church. When I was in college I met a number of religious sisters who, after the seeming liberation of their vocation after Vatican II spent their time freeing themselves of the 'chains' of the very things that heralded their genius. Instead of guiding my young soul to a deeper relationship with Christ and helping me to see what a beauty a young woman of God could be, they spent their time with me angrily explaining why one day women would be ordained and be part of the magisterium. This is how that turned out. I couldn't articulate it well at the time but I did know that every time I parted company with these nuns I felt aggravated and cheated. Luckily at that same time in my life i was blessed to know other women religious who embraced the beauty of what the Church was calling them to. They were smart, strong, beautiful, obedient and happy. Yes, obedient. Yes, happy. The contrast between the two was stark and left no question in my mind about who I would want to be like should God be calling me to a religious vocation.
Look, it's clear and undeniable that throughout history women have been mistreated and discriminated against as a gender. There have been many strong women throughout history that have done amazing things for bringing legal and societal recognition to our equal dignity with men. Thank God for these women. I thank them for their bravery and their sensibleness.
I do think however, the underpinning philosophy of the current feminist mindset needs to be re-evaluated. Here's my take on it;
What began as a legitimate desire of women to overcome the misconceptions and oppression as a whole has turned into an agenda that under the auspices of liberty has led women down a dangerous path that leaves them even more oppressed. Let me say from the beginning here that I don't think there is any one mind behind this agenda. I don't think any of the organizations or individuals behind this philosophy have anything but what they think to be the best interest of women in mind. So, there really isn't anyone to blame. (Actually, there is one to blame but there is lots of backlash for mentioning 'he who should not be named' these days, so I wont.)
That being said I think it's the women involved in these movements who are the victims of their own misguided passion. Thats irony for you. The women who ultimately seek and desire to spread the truth about women's equal dignity end up advancing the lies that keep women oppressed. This happens because instead of a legitimate desire to understand the genius of woman someone bought into the lie that 'equal' means 'sameness' and suddenly women everywhere were jumping on the bandwagon that said in order to be equal to men we need to be just like them.
As a result we've seen a society of women who seek more and more to take on the characteristics and functions of men and a society of men who are increasingly feminine. I'm not talking about 'opportunity' here. Women can be engineers and doctors and scientists and marines and they have been throughout history. All I'm saying is that it looks very different for a woman to be any of those things, to be anything, than it does for a man. Somewhere along the way somebody made the claim that what a man is, is better, and people agreed without thinking. If we're going to be fighting for equal dignity, then it's got to be equal. The idea that we have to get rid of our femininity, that we have to hate the very things that make us women and take on the qualities of men, says by its very nature that we aren't good enough to begin with, that we aren't equal. It's like telling your dog that he's not good enough because he's not like your cat.
So, what we need to do here is distinguish between opportunity and ontology. What I mean by ontology is that which is fundamental to our being woman. The things that make us different are not trivial. The things that make us different are precisely the things that are most beautiful and intriguing, things like our femininity, our fertility, the way we love, the way we think and the way we interact with humanity. Slowly over time we've bought into the idea that being a woman and mother is something demeaning. So, in order to overcome this 'oppressive slavery' of being woman we sought to change our ontology (which of course we can't do) so that we would be afforded 'opportunity'.
To put things in perspective, lets think of it the other way around for a second. Lets say that history had gone quite differently, that it was men instead who had been oppressed for the very fact of being men. So these men, having long been oppressed by a false stereotype over time, desire to be treated with equal dignity as women and in time gain momentum and the strength to do so. They don't want to be stuck in the work place behind a desk from 9-5 going from board meeting to board meeting. They don't want to be doing research in a lab with no human contact for long periods of time and they certainly don't want to be caught up in this dog-eat-dog business world where they are in 5 different cities a week meeting with rude, ruthless CEOs. They want to be where the heart is, in their home. They want to have valuable time with their children, reading with them, teaching them and instilling in them the qualities every father would like to pass on. Sure it's hard work keeping a home and energetic kids in order and they'll have to struggle to keep up with the hectic days but they feel like they are up for it and they are as good as any woman for the job. The only problem is that the hunter/gather instinct in them is too strong. No woman is going to let him be such an integral part of the family if he is constantly being called to conquer, provide and protect. So a drug comes out that calms his testosterone down, allows him to squelch his masculinity. Would he have achieved equality? Would he be happy?
Today, a new movement called HERVotes, that I would lump into this 'misguided' feminism category has launched on this, the first day of 'Women's History Month'. It is guilty of this same confused oppression of women. It's an effort to rally women together to support president Obama into re-election because, according to the movement, He supports real women's rights. He says that you have the right to deny the fact that the way you were made is amazing, you have the right to rid yourself of the very things that make you woman, that you have the right to harm your body so that you can be more like men, that you have the right to kill your children so that you can be successful in the workplace.
I say don't do me any favors Mr. President. I'll keep my fertility and my femininity and the privilege of being a woman. I am the 2%.
One of the most amazing things that I love about being a woman is the ability to use my logic and my maternal instinct in complete harmony. We can understand truths about humanity in ways that men can't because of our ability to love. We can think, really think, and see when we're being misguided and taken for fools and then do something about it in a way that only a woman can do, with love.
Yeah, lets do that.
Comments
Post a Comment