Women's Rights

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After studying African American Civil Rights in American History class, we each completed a project on another group that has sought civil rights. I was assigned women's rights. This paper takes an interesting turn, seeing as we were supposed to explain why we should stand up for women's rights. Because many of the "rights" they fight for today aren't really rights, I wrote about the opposite.

It seems these days that everyone is concerned with their rights. People feel that there are certain rights that they should have regardless of their race, religion, sex, and so forth. And rightfully so – everyone is entitled to basic human rights. Many belonging to specific groups – such as women, and homosexuals - feel that these basic rights aren't enough and that they need more. They feel that their group should be granted special "rights," which aren't really rights at all.

The early advocates of women's rights started out with good intentions – they were fighting for the abolition of slavery, suffrage for women and equal pay for men and women, among other similar rights. The first major turning point in the advocates' battle was on July 19th and 20th of 1848. On those dates, the Seneca Falls Convention was held in New York. The men and women at the convention created a document called the Declaration of Sentiments, which they based on the Declaration of Independence. This document created a foundation, a source of where to go, how to go about getting the government to recognize the rights to which they were entitled. As time went on, woman suffrage advocates like Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton formed organizations, such as the NWSA (National Woman Suffrage Association) and the AWSA (American Woman Suffrage Association). Eventually, after the formation of other organizations and after lots of support raising within states, women were granted the right to vote on August 26, 1920.

Women's groups didn't stop at getting the right to vote. They worked toward receiving equal pay, equal educational opportunities, and equal job opportunities. In 1963, Congress passed a law requiring employers to pay both men and women the same wages if they were completing the same work. Not long afterwards, Congress passed title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which said that employers could not hire based on race or on sex.

As women won these rights due them, they began pushing for more – they began pushing for equality with men. As we know from mathematics, it's impossible to have two things that are different be equal, or the same. Sure, you can do the same things to both (add, subtract, multiply, divide – or with people, grant them the same rights), but that doesn't make them equal.

Looking at the history of the women's rights movement, we can see that attempting to grasp equality with men is where the members of the movement erred. We see in the Bible that women aren't meant to be equal with men. In Genesis 3:16, the Bible says, "To the woman He said, / 'I will greatly multiply / Your pain in childbirth, / In pain you will bring forth children; / Yet your desire will be for your husband, And he will rule over you.'" The Bible goes on to explain how men are to work the fields and eat the fruit of their work. Men and women are given two different but important roles here – men to provide for their families, and women to raise the children and submit to their husbands.

It was God's intent for men and women to fill the roles He specified in His Word. Because He has the final say in everything and intervenes when He so desires, it's best not to go against him. As a result of the women's rights movement, more and more married women go to work on a daily basis as their husbands do. Fewer and fewer children get the attention that God has enabled their mothers to give them. Rather, children go to day care instead of spending time with their mothers.

Because women have stepped beyond their roles and have tried to be like men, thus feeling more confident in themselves, many times their marriages end in divorce. As we see from the Bible, marriage is a union of two people. They are made into one flesh when they get married. Therefore, in a divorce, the one flesh is split into two. Both persons had given themselves to each other, and they can never undo that. Part of them still lies in the other person. A person after a divorce lives in a manner similar to a person who loses half of his body – he is missing an important part. This is very painful for both parties in the divorce.

Not only are parents hurt by divorce, but so are their children. The kids' mother, with the natural desire to nurture her children, often wants to raise the kids, while also being forced to hold a full-time job to support them. Instead of being faced with one full-time job, she is faced with two. In turn, the children don't receive enough attention and nurturing from her and often very little from their father. They grow up without both very important parental figures present. Over 50% of the children in the United States today will live in a single parent home at one point or another. Divorce doesn't only affect a select few families, but a majority of them.

Look back 100 years, around the time the women's rights movement began getting its demands met. Look back to the time when the majority of women stayed home. Look at the quality of families back then. Crime rates were lower. Divorce rates were lower – families stuck together. Church attendance rates were higher. People spent more time with their families. The idea, concept, (whatever you want to call it) of the family was much more special than it is now. Though technology wasn't as advanced as it is now, people's lives were better because they grew up with the necessary parental influences at home.

The women's rights movement, more recently termed the feminist movement wanted other changes as well. They started reasoning that they have complete control over their bodies and everything inside them – including unborn babies. They pushed for the legalization of unborn baby homicide and finally got it. Although many people call this a woman's right to choose, it cannot be classified as a right under any circumstances. We don't call murder a right; why is it that a choice to murder one's unborn baby is different from any other type of murder? What's the difference between killing a baby before it's born and after its born? There is no difference. Yes, the woman has control over her body, but the baby is not part of her body. It resides inside her body, but it is not part of the woman's body. It has a beating heart 21 days after conception. Even if you were to look at the baby as part of the mother's body, abortion is unacceptable. If you're killing part of your body, isn't it as if you're committing suicide?

Feminists also started reasoning something to the effect of "Now that I'm equal with men, who needs them? I only need women," and, for this reason, they began pushing for lesbian "rights". Homosexual marriages are a mockery of the special union between a man and a woman brought about when two are married. Had God meant for homosexuality to occur, he would have created men so they could reproduce without a female. In the Garden of Eden, it wouldn't have been Adam and Eve, it would have been Adam and Steve. God wouldn't have condemned homosexuality throughout the Bible if he condoned it. Homosexual marriages aren't a right, they're an abomination.

Although the majority of the "rights" the women's rights movement is fighting for today aren't actually rights, there are a few things they rightfully fight against. Today, by law, women have the right to vote, the right to equal job opportunities, and so forth. But, as with the Blacks' civil rights, these laws aren't always enforced. Many women still don't receive equal pay or equal job opportunities as men. Modern day women's rights organizations, such as NOW (the National Organization for Women) fight against these stubborn biases, as well as against violence directed at women and against hate crimes directed at lesbians. All of these are worthy causes. Regardless of how much you may disagree with someone's lifestyle, there is no excuse for hating them. The Bible explains that we're supposed to love one another – not just those who love us back, but everyone.

Finding a solution to the problem of abuse against women and hate crimes is simple and at the same time, complex. If everyone were to love one another as the Bible commands us to, we would not have these problems. Those who commit crimes against women and lesbians would instead reach out and help these people see their need for Jesus' love and forgiveness. Ideally, everyone would realize their need for Jesus and His salvation and wouldn't hate others. But the reality is that society isn't getting closer to Jesus' commands. Rather, it's moving away from Him.

If people aren't going to follow the teachings of the Bible, there isn't much hope for the world. The best solution I can see is greater enforcement of existing laws, including stricter punishment for those who break the laws. With harsher punishments, people would hopefully think about the consequences BEFORE committing the crimes. That would prevent some of the violence.

Because of the political correctness in society today, people are quick to protect people's so called "rights," regardless of whether or not they are actually rights. People have no regard for what is absolutely moral; they have their own morals based on whatever they want. People don't feel the need to obey God. Rather, they do whatever makes them feel good and makes them popular among others. Now that women have the rights due them, what should our attitude be toward the feminist movement? Because there are moral absolutes – God's truth, God's word is above all other – we need to stand up against many (not all) of the feminist movement's actions. Each of us as individuals has a part. Each of us needs to realize the immorality in the feminist movement and we need to join together in a Jesus Movement - "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter" of our lives. (Hebrews 12:2)

Bibliography

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  • Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1994 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
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