My young friend got a little Ticked-off while he was visiting our fair state. (This is from his blog.)
I just spent a week in Florida in mid 90 degree weather, sweating buckets and savoring every air conditioned moment. Throughout the course of my days in this sweltering heat I observed women from varying religious traditions ranging from Islam to conservative Christianity, dressed from head to toe in frumpy, constricting, and undoubtedly uncomfortable and unbearably hot garb. Many of the Muslim wo...men were covered from head to toe with only their eyes showing, and the Christian women wore skirts that nearly dragged the pavement, long sleeved shirts, with their hair, which they'd obviously never been permitted to cut, tied up in what must be heavy and uncomfortable buns. The men, regardless of the religious tradition, however, were dressed exactly as the other men around them. They wore comfortable shorts and t-shirts, and, when compared to their wives, blended into the crowd nicely and didn't stick out at all.
It's not my intention to criticize anyone's fashion choices or modesty standards, but rather the impositions of religion onto women and its unfair, double standards.
The things described above are mere symptoms of the much larger problem of misogyny and poor treatment of women that often accompanies religious fundamentalism. Why is it that the men are free to dress as they please, even when it includes exposed legs and arms, but the women are forced to be locked up tighter than Fort Knox? Because the woman, in many religious traditions, is seen as being nothing more than an object of sexual pleasure and release for the man. She must be hidden away and concealed, or her wily and seductive ways will cause men to come from far and wide and force themselves upon her. Of course this is nonsense, but it, in a less caricature-ish way, is believed by many religionists. Women are seen as being such seductive and sexual creatures that men simply cannot control their appetites when around one who shows more than a little eyelid, and so they must be hidden away and forced to suffer beneath the weight of bun and burqa.
While the strict modesty standards of some Christian traditions and Islam do not apply to *most* Christian believers in Western nations, the same bias exists. If you attend Christian seminars aimed at teaching kids abstinence and modesty, it will always be the young ladies who are shamed into feeling that, just simply by existing and being attractive, they are leading young men to hell. The men are encouraged to always look the other way and to fight with all they have to resist the siren songs of these foul temptresses and the girls are made to feel that their bodies and appearances are merely things that make young men lose their minds and salvation, and so are encouraged to dress modestly. The young men, however, are only told not to look but are otherwise free to continue as they were.
It seems that even in the Bible's earliest stories, God presented us with the issue of men blaming women for their failures. "The woman you gave me..."
I have an idea, though, how about we as men take responsibility for our own actions, and acknowledge the fact that a woman ought not have to hide herself so that we're not tempted to look at her? How about we realize that women are not mere objects of sexual release, but precious and beautiful humans who deserve to be treated with dignity and respect? How about we realize that, if we have a "lust problem", it is *we* who have the "lust problem"? Our weaknesses are not the faults of women.
Now, sure, Paul does instruct women to dress modestly, and sure, women ought not to, in the name of freedom, become the very things that men desire them to be. I'm not advocating for skimpy clothes or scant attire. I'm simply pointing out the tendency of religion to blame women for the problems its men face. In nearly every religious tradition it is the women involved who suffer the most. They are the ones forced to sit down, shut up and be submissive, while their husbands propagate terrible behaviors in the name of God, and act in abusive, dangerous and downright egregious ways. They are the ones forced to blindly and mutely follow whatever "vision" the "man of God", or "priest of the household" (where does that term even come from?) chooses to follow, without ever making so much as a peep. It is they who are often forced to give up precious freedoms and dreams in the name of following someone else's, and you know what? I just don't think it's right.
It is time for a new brand of Christianity, in which women are celebrated and seen as being more than *mere* "helpmates", baby machines, husband followers, and sexual objects. It's time that we celebrate who they are and what they are without the misogyny and chauvinism that can thrive unchecked in religion.
Look, I'm no "feminist" or anything, but I am weary of watching women be blamed for the Christian man's problems while being forced to say "amen" to every word he says.
Women, you, just as much as men, are the image and likeness of God (and yes, I anticipate some Pauline arguments here), and are valuable. You deserve to live, pursue your dreams, and be happy in life. Any brand of Christianity that says you can't or that blames you for the problems of men is not a brand of Christianity worth following.
Just some thoughts. #girlpower
I just spent a week in Florida in mid 90 degree weather, sweating buckets and savoring every air conditioned moment. Throughout the course of my days in this sweltering heat I observed women from varying religious traditions ranging from Islam to conservative Christianity, dressed from head to toe in frumpy, constricting, and undoubtedly uncomfortable and unbearably hot garb. Many of the Muslim wo...men were covered from head to toe with only their eyes showing, and the Christian women wore skirts that nearly dragged the pavement, long sleeved shirts, with their hair, which they'd obviously never been permitted to cut, tied up in what must be heavy and uncomfortable buns. The men, regardless of the religious tradition, however, were dressed exactly as the other men around them. They wore comfortable shorts and t-shirts, and, when compared to their wives, blended into the crowd nicely and didn't stick out at all.
It's not my intention to criticize anyone's fashion choices or modesty standards, but rather the impositions of religion onto women and its unfair, double standards.
The things described above are mere symptoms of the much larger problem of misogyny and poor treatment of women that often accompanies religious fundamentalism. Why is it that the men are free to dress as they please, even when it includes exposed legs and arms, but the women are forced to be locked up tighter than Fort Knox? Because the woman, in many religious traditions, is seen as being nothing more than an object of sexual pleasure and release for the man. She must be hidden away and concealed, or her wily and seductive ways will cause men to come from far and wide and force themselves upon her. Of course this is nonsense, but it, in a less caricature-ish way, is believed by many religionists. Women are seen as being such seductive and sexual creatures that men simply cannot control their appetites when around one who shows more than a little eyelid, and so they must be hidden away and forced to suffer beneath the weight of bun and burqa.
While the strict modesty standards of some Christian traditions and Islam do not apply to *most* Christian believers in Western nations, the same bias exists. If you attend Christian seminars aimed at teaching kids abstinence and modesty, it will always be the young ladies who are shamed into feeling that, just simply by existing and being attractive, they are leading young men to hell. The men are encouraged to always look the other way and to fight with all they have to resist the siren songs of these foul temptresses and the girls are made to feel that their bodies and appearances are merely things that make young men lose their minds and salvation, and so are encouraged to dress modestly. The young men, however, are only told not to look but are otherwise free to continue as they were.
It seems that even in the Bible's earliest stories, God presented us with the issue of men blaming women for their failures. "The woman you gave me..."
I have an idea, though, how about we as men take responsibility for our own actions, and acknowledge the fact that a woman ought not have to hide herself so that we're not tempted to look at her? How about we realize that women are not mere objects of sexual release, but precious and beautiful humans who deserve to be treated with dignity and respect? How about we realize that, if we have a "lust problem", it is *we* who have the "lust problem"? Our weaknesses are not the faults of women.
Now, sure, Paul does instruct women to dress modestly, and sure, women ought not to, in the name of freedom, become the very things that men desire them to be. I'm not advocating for skimpy clothes or scant attire. I'm simply pointing out the tendency of religion to blame women for the problems its men face. In nearly every religious tradition it is the women involved who suffer the most. They are the ones forced to sit down, shut up and be submissive, while their husbands propagate terrible behaviors in the name of God, and act in abusive, dangerous and downright egregious ways. They are the ones forced to blindly and mutely follow whatever "vision" the "man of God", or "priest of the household" (where does that term even come from?) chooses to follow, without ever making so much as a peep. It is they who are often forced to give up precious freedoms and dreams in the name of following someone else's, and you know what? I just don't think it's right.
It is time for a new brand of Christianity, in which women are celebrated and seen as being more than *mere* "helpmates", baby machines, husband followers, and sexual objects. It's time that we celebrate who they are and what they are without the misogyny and chauvinism that can thrive unchecked in religion.
Look, I'm no "feminist" or anything, but I am weary of watching women be blamed for the Christian man's problems while being forced to say "amen" to every word he says.
Women, you, just as much as men, are the image and likeness of God (and yes, I anticipate some Pauline arguments here), and are valuable. You deserve to live, pursue your dreams, and be happy in life. Any brand of Christianity that says you can't or that blames you for the problems of men is not a brand of Christianity worth following.
Just some thoughts. #girlpower
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And why don't we just send a man to Pluto. 
