ErichMusick.com
Personal web site of Erich Musick - software engineer and Christ follower
Gender Roles
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What are men's and women's roles in society?
What are men's and women's roles in society? Are men and women equal in ability and opportunity? Should they be equal or do they have distinct roles they should play? In this day and age, people like to be "politically correct" by attempting to make both sexes equal. Most people feel that it is unfair to say that men can do certain activities better than women and women can do other activities better than men, but is it actually unfair, or has God actually made men and women differently and given them different roles in life and society?
As was stated, most people like to consider males and females equal in ability and in what their roles should be in society, but I don't think that is actually the case. God has made men and women differently - HE has made them to fit certain roles HE has defined. The Bible talks a lot about God's roles for men and women. Genesis, the first book of the Bible, talks about Creation and how sin (disobedience to God) entered the world. When God created everything, it was perfect and good. Right after Adam and Eve (the first man and woman) disobeyed God, God kicked them out of the perfect place he had made for them called the Garden of Eden. Genesis 3:16-19 says:
"To the woman He said, 'I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth, in pain you shall bring forth children; yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.' Then to Adam He said, '... Cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field; by the sweat of your face you shall eat bread...'"
This is the first example of God's giving roles to men and women. He said that women would give birth to children (and, obviously, raise them), while men will take care of the land and work it for food. Many people today believe that since the Bible was written quite a long time ago that it doesn't apply to the world now and that the roles God has given men and women are changing, but that's not true. Just because something is old doesn't mean it's irrelevant to the world today. Take, for example, the ancient Greek system of government. Back a couple thousand years ago, Greeks came up with the first democracy, an idea that is still used today in our government here in the United States.
Although there is so much evidence proving the Bible true (books have been written proving it), most people still don't believe it and don't think it applies to today. For this reason, many people believe that the roles God has given men and women don't apply to today. Then, whenever they feel men and women aren't being treated equally, they get upset, when there's actually no reason for them to be upset. Men and women are very different, so why should they be treated equally? Two different people can't be treated equally. One example of an instance in which some people feel men and women are being treated unequally is in raising kids. I believe that, although the husband should also help out raising the kids, the wife should be the one to raise the children mostly. The husband should raise most, if not all, of the money to support the family. I believe he should be the head of the household and lead the family in decisions, although his wife and children should be a part of decisions also. Some people believe that it's all right for the husband to raise the kids and the wife to earn money, but, according to the Bible, these are not the roles God has given men and women.
In class, we discussed some different statements regarding gender roles. A few of the questions talked about men's and women's roles in a family - who should raise the kids, who is better at and more suited for raising the kids, and whether females are naturally kinder than males. Since God has put females in the position to raise kids, I feel that he has given them the ability to do so by making them kinder and more suited for raising kids. Take, for example, the topic of babysitting. In a discussion of one of the other questions, a female in the class mentioned that she can relate to both boys and girls when she is babysitting, while a male in the class mentioned that he can't really relate to girls well but can relate to guys really well when babysitting. I feel the same way when I'm working with little kids - I know how to relate to the guys, but not the girls, while I've seen females relate to both sexes very well. I think this is because God has made females to fit the role He has given them because He wants them to fit that role.
A similar question we discussed talked about whether more men than women have the qualities to be president. I think this goes back to what I said before. Just as I believe that the husband should be the head of the household, I believe that a man should be in charge of this country (and every country). Some people, in our class discussion, stated that many women have leadership qualities and would be good presidents, which I believe is true, but I still think a man should be president because, as I stated previously, God commands the husband (obviously a male) to be head of the household. I believe the same goes for dating - the man should be the leader in the relationship. This was another question we discussed in class; 20 out of 22 people in the class said that women should be allowed to ask men out, but I don't think they should. I think, as I've said many times now, that the man should be the head of the relationship, marriage, household, or government, etc. When God originally made people, He first created Adam, and the Bible says that Adam could find no suitable helper when he was naming all the animals, so God created a woman to be a helper for him. The Bible talks in other places about men being the leaders and head of the household.
Another topic we discussed had to do with men's and women's mathematical abilities. Although I believe that men should be the head of the household and be the leaders, I don't think that this means that they are any smarter in a subject such as math. Math doesn't really have anything to do with leadership - it has to do with intelligence and God doesn't only give men intelligence, he also gives it to women. Some men are horrible at math, while some are very good at it and others are 'average.' The same goes for women. Although I generally see more men really good at math than women, I think that since women have, in the past, worked around the house and raised the family, they've never, until fairly recently, been encouraged to learn math and science. These two subjects have always been subjects for men, but I believe that some day just as many women, if not more, than men will be very talented in mathematics.
Men's and women's roles in marriage, dating, and government and their intelligence were not the only things we discussed in class about gender roles. Another topic we discussed had to do with whether males should be able to do things generally thought of as feminine, such as playing with Barbie dolls and wearing a Mia Hamm (a woman soccer star) jersey. Most people in the class were concerned that if a boy does so-called "girlie" activities, that he will turn out to be gay, but I don't agree with that statement. Although boys may be made fun of for playing with Barbies, I don't think that they should be withheld from doing so. Eventually, they'll grow out of it and become interested in other things. Wearing a soccer jersey of a popular woman soccer player would also be a cause of teasing for a young boy, but I think he should be allowed to wear it because he's just a fan of a woman soccer player. Is there anything wrong with that?
The last two topics we dealt with were military combat and contact sports - should women be allowed to participate in military combat and should boys and girls (high school age) be allowed to play contact sports together. Parallels can be drawn between the two activities - both involve the need for physical strength and other characteristics that men generally have more of than women. It is hard for women to be as strong as men because of the levels of testosterone in men. I believe that men are built better for the army and other military services than women. Again, I believe it's the way God has made them. I also believe that God has generally made men better at sports than women, but that's not my main reason for believing that guys' and girls' sports should be kept separate. I think that guys shouldn't be touching girls in certain areas that are touched often in contact sports. God wants men and women to be faithful to their wives and husbands and by touching people of the opposite sex, students aren't saving their bodies for their future spouse and glorifying God with their bodies.
From the beginning of time until now, the roles of men and women in life and society have changed drastically. They are still changing and will probably keep changing due to the fact that people don't read the Bible or obey God's commands, and that they ignore His roles for men and women in life and society. Even though more and more people are ignoring God's roles for men and women, these roles still apply, and God still has reasons for the way He does things. Next time you're about to get upset over seemingly unequal treatment of men and women, remember what roles God has given us and realize that maybe what seems unfair is actually perfectly fair.
