Can Femininity Become An Idol?
I love wandering thru different Christian blogs and find many interesting and stimulating. I am however a bit alarmed at some of the blogs posted by young teenage girls. There seems to be some kind of trend growing among them that is "anti- education" and "anti-self." Many are written by obviously bright, home schooled girls who have their future in the palms of their hands. But strangely, most don't want one.
In blog after blog I read insightful commentary on life and Christianity, but when the subject of the future comes up, these girls seem to draw a blank. They begin to dribble about learning to cook, mop floors, clean toilets and burp babies. The thought of university scares them and they write long reams of reason why going out into that big anti-christian world is just too much for them. They don't even acknowledge the fact that there are Christian universities all over America from every different denomination who accept women as students!
I wonder if these girls are typical adolescents in that they have normal fears about the future and this may be what is behind their constant chatter about learning to bake or mop floors. I can sympathize because becoming an Christian woman and standing up for Christ in this world is pretty overwhelming and scary, but the sad part to me is that their plans for a future staring in a toilet bowl seem to be supported by their families and their churches and I haven't found anyone who even questions their plans for staying cooped up in houses the rest of their lives.
Their parents, obviously wanting the best for them, have taken the time to pull them out of public school and "home schooled" them. Is this the product of home schooling? Young women who are so scared of their womanhood that they make femininity into an idol and cast mothering and cleaning as roles to pursue? Something is missing with this picture. What happens when these young women, who are so obviously brainwashed by each other, (check some of their blogs, they uphold each others right to ignorance and the use of mops...(fearlessly feminine, spunkyjunior, feminine beauty, and unconformed) really do grow up and become adults? In Christian churches where the single male ratio is 1 man to 5 single women, what in the world are they going to do with themselves if they never marry? They take a stand saying that they will stay at home and serve their fathers. What if their fathers die? What if they have no means to support themselves?
Of course I think it's normal and healthy for young women to dream about husbands and families and that includes taking care of a home, but there is also each person's calling that the Lord gives us and my experience is that to live an abundant life we need to be submitted to Christ and find out where He is calling us to serve in the body of Christ. I don't think that adolescent fear of the future should be a cover for young women who are called as Christ's disciples to grow like Him, make more disciples and tell the world who Christ is and what He did for them! I also am afraid they are focusing on being feminine to the point that they are making it an idol in their lives. I truly believe if young Christian women today want to make an impact for Christ in the world tomorrow, they need to be submitted to Christ, educated, focused, disciplined, and ready to serve Christ and heed whatever calling He gives them. Motherhood is not an end to a girl's character. It iss just one aspect of a woman's personality. I pray that these young women will wake up and become real adult voices for Christian women around the world.
posted by Wild Child @ 6:18 AM
9 comments
9 Comments:
I came across your blog and thought it was interesting. I also read those links, like spunkyjunior and unconformed and think maybe you missed the point. Their point seems to be that you should not belittle those who are preparing for running a household and that motherhood is a noble pursuit. They seem to be bright, educated girls and I didn't get the impression that they are scared of life. You seem quick to judge them and put them in your box. Proverbs speaks of a woman who is both a merchant as well as a keeper of her home. Both qualities in the same woman.....so what is wrong with these young women talking about wanting to be a keeper of the home? Sounds Biblical to me. Perhaps instead of being critical you could try loving and accepting a little.
"Pondering.."
"Wild Child,"
I believe that some of the issues you raised in this post are worthy of being addressed. Spunky Jr. and I are working on a response that should be posted on Beauty from the Heart soon!
I saw your comment on Beauty from the Heart, and came here to read your perspective. I think some of what you have said is true, but it seems like you perhaps didn't get a full picture of what the young ladies you mentioned are describing. I've written a post on my blog with my thoughts on what you shared here: http://wistfulmaiden.blogspot.com/2006/03/is-training-to-be-keeper-at-home-waste.html
Interesting thoughts WC.
Here are some of mine:
1. I believe homemaking is a wonderful alternative for any woman. I think we (as Christians) should support any woman who makes that her choice.
2. The young women you write about in this post (from their blogs) seem to be exceedingly sweet and relatively intelligent.
On the other hand:
1. I think it is possible that these young women believe they are supposed to stay at home and not go to a university because that's what their parents have told them to think. I don't see them doing a lot of independent thinking. If it works out for them, then great. There are several reasons it might not work for them, you have mentioned some very important ones.
2. These young ladies seem to think they are some of the most intelligent in the United States. When I read their blogs, I found grammar errors, spelling errors, sentence structure errors. These are not the kinds of things I expect to find in super intelligent students.
3. They seem to say that a woman choosing a career outside of the home would be outside God's plan.
4. They have openly criticized youth groups in churches because they are exclusive. Yet, they seem to have a virtual on-line youth group that is very exclusive. (WC you might not get invited in, because you disagree with them.)
I applaud you WC for some excellent thoughts!
Thanks for everyone's thoughts! I am taking a couple of days to pray and will post what I come up with! Please understand I am not trying to "belittle" them. I have strong feelings about this subject becaue of how other young Christian women are being influenced and because of how this narrow minded thinking affected me when I was a teenager.
interesting. i'll post a response to you on my blog when things settle after this crazy weekend.
I think this focus on feminimity in homeschooled girls is simply the extreme conservative swing against an extreme leftist view that says feminimity is an attribute to be put aside and scorned.
I think that both can be wrong in different ways, although the former is the far more biblical view. I am not a female, but I think the role of mother is the most important role that women have, if they have children.
Going to work and shipping the kids off to school or daycare is part of what's ripping our society into little threads and pieces.
However, I think that homeschooled girls should be open to something other than homemaking and cooking, as it may be ten, fifteen years before they're married. Are they going to simply live at home till then?--It's doubtful. There are many ways you can look at this issue. I look forward to any further posts, Wildchild. :)
And yet another thanks for this post, WC. Good points that needed to be made.
I agree...sometimes I think the fact that all a woman's life revolves around is housework is a case of the lady doth protest too much. Perhaps, they are trying to convince themselves that this is all they want?
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