By
Randa Morris
Everyone
knows that the right wing is all about ‘traditional family values,’ especially
when it comes to adhering to those strict gender roles, which are supposedly
‘God’s natural order.’
Men are supposed to be the bread winners, women are
supposed to stay home and mind the dishes and the laundry.
Everyone also knows
that the idea of gender equality is an evil Feminazi plot, designed to replace
the God given authority of men and thereby undermine the very fabric of
existence and bring all types of calamities via the wrath of God down upon this
once great country, and yada yada…
There’s
just one problem, the Bible doesn’t support these absurd gender roles, at all.
Maybe the best way to examine the truth about the rigid
gender roles laid out for us by right wing ‘Christians’ is to examine the way
the Bible describes the ‘perfect wife.’
You might think she’d be weak and
dependent on her husband to provide for her every need.
If
you do think that, you might be in for a shock.
(*warning
to right wingers, liberal propaganda in the form of actual Bible quotes ahead,
proceed at your own risk).
The
description of the weak, subservient female above, is nothing like the Biblical
description of the perfect wife, found in Proverbs chapter
31.
Instead,
you find a description of someone who is a shrewd business woman, a property
owner, an investor, a trader, a woman who is in charge of her own finances, who
earns a great deal of money through her own work and investments.
No, she is
not described as a woman who stays at home depending on her husband to provide
for her. In fact, she’s described as a provider. Oh, and the
passage refers to her as ‘having strong arms’ too (see verse 17).
Proverbs
31:16
She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
Wait,
the earnings were ‘hers’? She had her own money? She invested her own money?
She bought property? She owned a vineyard? She didn’t ask her husband first?
How can this be?
Proverbs
31:18
She sees that her trading is profitable, and her lamp does not go out at night.
She
a trader? She earns a profit from her own business?
And
she’s staying up at night working, instead of coming to bed, where she belongs?
But,
but, what about her husband’s ‘needs’?
Proverbs
31:24
She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies the merchants with sashes.
She’s
expanding her business? She’s selling her products to merchants? She doesn’t
seem to know her place at all…
Proverbs
31:15
She gets up while it is still night; she provides food for her family and portions for her female servants.
She provides
food for her family?
Even
though this is how she’s described in the Bible, according to the right wing,
this woman is not the perfect wife. This woman is a Feminazi, undermining her
husband’s authority, trying to take away his pride and his manhood. By God
she’s emasculating the poor guy.
And
if her husband was a right wing ‘Christian,’ he’d have been so insecure and so
threatened by her success that he would feel the need to beat her down, to get
her under control, to put her in her place.
But, of course, her husband was
nothing like the right wing ‘Christians’ of today. In fact, Proverbs 31:11 says
he had “full confidence in her.” It also says that he lacked nothing, thanks to
her work and her success.
He
wasn’t in the least bit threatened or intimidated. There was no desire to keep
her down or to hold her back.
And
here’s another thing, she spoke with wisdom and gave faithful instruction.
“She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.”
This
shows that she was valued and treated with respect, as opposed to being told to
be quiet and mind her place. It also shows that the ‘traditional family’ BS
constantly spun by the right wing is not based on Biblical culture. Nor is the
Feminist model based on some entirely recent development in human history.
Today’s feminist movement is a response to the much more recent oppressive,
male dominated power structure that has seized hold of various cultures, at
different points in history.
The
gender stereotypes pushed by the right wing are not based on the Bible, they’re
based on the frightened, insecure and warped fantasies of men who are weak. Men
who believe that by keeping others down, they are somehow lifting themselves
up. Contrary to what is preached by GOP ‘traditional family values’ frauds, the
Bible is very clear regarding how husband’s and men are to treat the work of
their female counterparts:
“Honor her for all that her hands have done, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.” (Proverbs 31:31)
It’s
time to retire the phony Christians from our government. We cannot keep
allowing this group of insecure and frightened little men, who attempt to use
religion to subjugate half the population, to remain in positions of authority.
It’s way past time that women were given equal pay for equal work, and equal
respect for all of their efforts.
Contrary
to what they claim, the right wing’s twisted views and phony ‘values’ have
nothing to do with the Christian religion or the Bible. Their own egos, yes.
Their own insecurities, yes. Their own desire to lord themselves over others,
yes. God, Jesus, the Bible, Christianity, religion, the good of the country…
no, no, no, no, no and no.
Oh
and can we pass the ERA now?
Author Randa Morris has been a freelance writer for over
ten years. She is an active political blogger and administrator for several
social media activism groups.