Today, as we all know, the feminists are being silly again. In a sort of “that’ll learn ‘em” move, the feminists are urging women to refrain from doing any work today. A day without women working will apparently land us all in a huge mess which will teach us a lesson of some sort. There are so many levels of funny about this that it’s difficult to know where to begin.
But the thing that’s shocking is the rest of the nation which puts up with this. Don’t we all know the basic rules that you should never negotiate with terrorists? Granted, compared to real terrorists these women are just gesturing menacingly with their parasols, but the principle is the same. If you give in to that behavior then you have guaranteed you’ll get more of what you just subsidized.
In Anglo Saxon England there were a few troublesome centuries during which the Saxons were being constantly plagued by the Vikings. The Vikings would come to England to plunder and pillage – but they would also offer the Saxons the chance to buy peace. If the Saxons agreed to pay the “danegeld,” the Vikings promised they would go home. But of course, once you pay the money you have just demonstrated that you are a coward with cash – and rather than ensuring the Vikings would leave you alone, you have just guaranteed they will come back next year. Thus Kipling’s famous line, “Once you have paid him the Danegeld, you never get rid of the Dane.” And America has been paying this ridiculous danegeld for way too long.
On the other hand, though, I think the feminists have come perilously near to a good idea this time. They missed it, but for a minute there they were getting warm. I think going on strike is a great idea – but I would humbly suggest a much more radical strike. What if the women in America decided to stop giving out sexual favors for free? What if, instead of shrieking that everyone needs to respect women more, they started respecting themselves more? What if American women started putting a higher price-tag on their bodies than a few bucks for a drink or a dinner? What if they took their bodies out of the lending library where any old man can borrow it for a while and then return it a little worse for wear when he’s ready for a different one?
In fact, forget a little bump in wages . . . . I think these ladies should swing for the fence and actually demand that a man have to stand up in front of witnesses and promise to love her until he dies, that he has to bestow upon her all his worldly goods, that he has to take care of her children either by himself or with the help of stockton nursery to keep her child engaged and that he has be faithful to her until death or suffer dramatic monetary consequences.
Oh wait. It turns out that’s what Christians have been saying all along? How surprising.
But just imagine how many social ills would vanish overnight with zero legislation if the women decided to start treating themselves with a little more dignity. Imagine the dramatic drop in tax money being funneled to single mothers. Imagine Planned Parenthood dying a quiet death by going out of business. Imagine a break from the yelling about the free birth control the government must hand out. Imagine children being raised in homes with two parents.
But this actually shows us why America is willing to pay the danegeld to the feminists when they occasionally start hollering for a few more bucks here or there or a little more token respect. It’s worth it. There is an enormous social structure built on the assumption that every woman can be treated like a rent-a-concubine – and the feminists have worked tirelessly to define that as liberation.
But redefining doesn’t actually change anything. A concubine is still a concubine, a kept woman is still a kept woman, and a free woman is still a free woman. Changing the labels doesn’t change the reality of the damage – it just tricks a lot of women into staying cheap and easy by making them think they’re liberated, modern, and glamorous. The slavery is real even if the slave isn’t aware of it.
But there’s a way out – one of the most striking features of Christ’s ministry was the fact that he was surrounded by women liberated from this very thing. You can’t erase the damage with definitions but you can erase it with repentance – and that’s a message that our feminist friends desperately need to hear.
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I find it ironic that all of these women are shrieking, “Fine! See how you like it without us around!” Haven’t they been saying and doing that exact thing for over 50 years now by abandoning their post in the home and their children at the abortion mills?
I love your take on this issue. Time to own what it really means to be a “free woman”!
I was hoping you would have a little gem for today! I just finished Eve in Exile and appreciated your analysis of feminism and the effects it has on our society. Our ladies at church are reading it and will discuss it at a book study. Thanks for writing it!
While I understand the point of this blog, it saddens me to see you saying that Planned Parenthood should die a quiet death. As if PP solely focused on abortions instead of cancer screenings. I know a young woman who couldn’t afford a Pap smear at a regular doctor and her screening at PP saved her life. That was her respecting her body and PP was the only place she could access the healthcare she needed to save her body.
I am astounded that this hogwash was written by a woman. A marriage does not a blissful utopia make. You can’t just claim that taking marriage vows makes up for the steep differences in wages or status barriers: Women make up only 4.6% of the current Fortune 500 list.
Planned Parenthood does NOT only do abortions. In fact it is a very small % of their services, under 10% The majority focuses on health services for underprivileged women and girls who otherwise do not have healthcare. They save more lives then take away.
Also…thanks for putting out there the gross assumption that women who advocate for themselves are basically whores.
I would go on but I can’t even right now.
Lady you are a real piece of work.
Ashton,
I’m glad to hear that you’re friend’s life was saved by a timely screening. That is indeed something to be thankful for! However, there are many other free clinics available that provide a wider range of women’s health services that also do not perform abortions. I have been a patient at several of these clinics and received excellent, courteous care. It is a flawed argument to say that because Planned Parenthood provides pap smears they are somehow excused from all of the human wreckage they have brought about by ending the lives of innocents. There is so much bloodshed and it cannot be outweighed. There are plenty of other quality health options for women without insurance if Planned Parenthood deservedly goes under.
100% Feminist,
A couple of related videos for your perusal:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vNErQFmOwq0
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qtgqxvaV-8U
Also, do you have a verified and reliably-sourced statistic to back up your claim that Planned Parenthood saves more lives than they end?
I normally don’t comment on other people’s posts, but I can’t help myself here. In doing so, I’m only addressing three issues, and I acknowledge that I am missing a few. (For example, I am not addressing the oversimplified and categorical framing of feminists as advocating for “every woman [to] be treated like a rent-a-concubine,” which is ignores the long history, waves, and various schools of feminism that exist – sadly, way too complicated to address meaningfully here.)
First, it minimizes the value of speaking up for women’s rights. The author states “these women are just gesturing menacingly with their parasols.” Many women’s rights are protected today because someone in the past cared enough to raise their voice, “waive their parasol,” and enact policy or legislation. For example, we have legal recourse if we are paid less simply because we have a vagina because of the Equal Pay Act. The prosecution rates of domestic violence cases has improved because of the Violence Against Women Act. We have protected (albeit) unpaid maternity leave because of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act. Why are we minimizing the value of – and in turn deterring women from – making such “gestures”?
Second, it falsely assumes (and propagates a stigma) that single moms are single by choice or have never been married – and that they need governmental assistance in the first place. The author asks us to “just imagine how many social ills would vanish overnight with zero legislation if the women decided to start treating themselves with a little more dignity. Imagine the dramatic drop in tax money being funneled to single mothers.” What about single moms already making it on their own? What about widows? What about survivors of abuse? What about pure abandonment? What about mental illness and addiction? I would also challenge us to imagine the dramatic drop in tax money being funneled to single mothers if more churches and individual families helped single moms who do need assistance – reaching out, taking their hand, doing life with them, and helping them get back up on their feet – with actual relationships, monetary resources, training, and childcare – or advocating (the church or the government) on their behalf for such resources.
Finally, and perhaps the most problematic of all, it assumes that marriage is salvation. It’s not. I say that as a woman that has been married for ten years and is madly in love with her husband. This author advocates that “these ladies [should] demand that a man have to stand up in front of witnesses and promise to love her until he dies, that he has to bestow upon her all his worldly goods, that he has to take care of her children, and that he has be faithful to her until death or suffer dramatic monetary consequences.” Are our single sisters (Christian or otherwise) so because they haven’t “demanded” a husband? Are they somehow “lesser than” until they get one? Am I emotionally, financially, and spiritually secure merely because I have a mate? Am I saved from poverty and the need to rely on charity or governmental services simply because I have a “Mrs.” before my name?
No. Socio-economically, I was raised in an upper-middle class home, so I started with a major advantage. Then I obtained two degrees and maintain a comfortable income. This illustrates the roles of privilege and education, not marriage. But I have read Job – and I have personally experienced enough death, illness, and heartache at this point to know that all of it – my marriage, education, privilege, current income – is fleeting. He could die. My brain could falter. The economy could tank. If that happens, I hope (among other things) that a Christian sister takes my hand with compassion, advocates on my behalf, does not assume I am in my position by choice, and does not attempt to push me into another man’s arms as my best hope. I hope we both remember to trust that Jesus is salvation. Full stop.
I appreciate hearing your perspective. I propose that it takes all sorts of people and tactics to create societal change. I think your concept of self respect and the protestors call to encourage recognition of women’s contributions, both have their place. Indeed, we have the vote because of both women on the streets protesting and women at home demanding/ requesting/ negotiating. Together we walk a path.
Respectfully am saddened by your need to race claim cheap sex to black women. There are women of all classes and races who do not respect their worth. If your point was to the disproportionate amount of black babies lost to abortion, that is a sad fact. Perhaps that deserves another post. One that includes incarceration rates, missing child rates, foster care rates and adoption rates. As white women, we need to support our black sisters. They carry much pain and stigma but are proud and deserve respect.
This post was right on target. Awesome job, Bekah!
I am deeply saddened by the amount of women who have fallen for the lie of happiness for selling their bodies for so cheap, who fall into the trap of seeing their value in their sexual attractiveness, desperately trying to hold onto a young body as they age, competing with other women for male attention……what hell. May your words set the captives to sin free and keep others from falling. Salvation is in Christ alone. God bless!
Not every woman, probably even the majority of women, who understood the concept behind the “A Day without Women”, whether they participated in it or not do not fit your stereotype of a “feminist”. Not all feminists are promiscuous, have had multiple abortions or even support abortion on demand. Haven’t you ever heard of Feminists for Life (Feministsforlife.org) or secular pro-life groups, such as Secularprolife.org? Not all, or even most hate men or children. Many are married and love their husband and children as much as you do. You are not someone who only wears denim jumpers, never disagrees with your husband, thinks it’s not a woman’s place to be informed outside the realm of home and children, believes vaccines are a plot from Satan to harm children, any schooling other than homeschooling is a grave evil, etc. Well, those are some of the characteristics that people would usually apply to you because you are a conservative Christian, stay-at-home mom with a large family (or at least I think you are). If you don’t like that stereotype, why do stereotype feminists in the same way?
I think it might be really helpful to provide links to articles or writings that are being referred here to as reference. Those of us who are reading may not have read up on the same information. To know what the so called feminists are actually saying and read for ourselves. I appreciate your blog, thank you!