A writer's Random ramblings
Christians around the world unite in Holy Week celebrations this final week of Women’s History Month. This gives us impetus to learn about our sisters of faith. We see in the various parts of the Bible women in many functions. Some women fill important traditional roles, while others surprise us by doing things we associate more readily with contemporary women. Women appear both as real, historical figures and as allegories of various concepts, making the Bible both literature and history book.
Surprisingly, the Old Testament tells us of women as equal helpers to men and in many occupations. Genesis tells us that nit long after creating the first man, God decided he needed an equal helper. When Adam fell into a deep sleep, God took one of his ribs and fashioned the first woman, Eve, to provide the help on working the land and naming the beings dwelling there. The successive creation of one person from another rather than another element shows how God wishes for all people to treat one another as equals. Punishment also falls evenly on both sexes, first shown when God sends Adam and Eve away from the Garden of Eden after they eat of the fruit of the tree of wisdom and realize their nudity. Although women mainly help men in the Old Testament, they also eventually become judges and musicians as well as lifting other women in times of sorrow. The famous story of Ruth and Naomi tells the lifting story well. Naomi had migrated from Israel to Moab with her husband and sons to escape famine. While they stayed there, the sons married Moabite women, Ruth and Orpah. When Naomi’s husband died, she tried to take the family back to Israel, her sons dying along the way. At that point, she instructed her daughters in law to go back to their homeland, but only Orpah obeyed. Ruth decided to remain loyal to Naomi and followed her back to Israel, becoming her helper there. Without this loyalty, how could we have a great example of familial love to follow? In the middle of the Bible as modernity knows it, we find the Wisdom books: Song of Solomon, Psalms, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes. We do not know to this day whether women wrote any of these books under masculine names, so that remains possible. In these books, women often appear as personifications of virtue or beauty to the men we assume wrote the words. Sometimes, real women actually inspired the various verses in Psalms and the Song of Solomon. These women as inspiration become idealized as paragons of beauty that the men seek for company. However, by reading about the women, we can also learn, as did the men at the time the words were written, how to apply the wisdom behind the books rather than the folly some people in them reportedly undertook. Naturally, women occupy important roles in the New Testament as well. If God had not appointed Mary to bear His Son, Christians could not claim salvation. Unfortunately, we do not have records of much of her life or of Jesus’ until he became an adult. We see her mostly at key moments, such as his birth and death, likely to make the point that these are key in our salvation. Jesus also shows himself as an example of an early feminist when he begins his ministry. He takes on Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and other women followers among his disciples. They support his ministry financially and with places for followers to gather. Women provide food many times for the faithful as well as emotional support for the sick of all walks of life before he comes along to heal them. Mary Magdalene becomes especially important on the first Easter. She and her female friends go to Jesus’ tomb to anoint his body in the Jewish tradition, as women did for the dead of their communities. However, she found him missing and the stone rolled away. As she began to cry, a figure all in white tells her that Jesus rose from the dead and she should go tell the men. This use of woman as messenger tips ancient custom on its head by God once again showing a preference for equality among what men and women can do. In these ways and many others, the Bible tells humanity that God wants all people treated equally. This makes God feminist no matter what gender we try to give our Creator. Men and women alike take major roles in shaping human history. Therefore, to follow God’s ways, no human should subjugate another in any way. In the words of the hymn, “One Bread, One Body,” we are created to be neither “Gentile nor Jew, Servant nor Free, Woman nor man no more…” but one human race caring for each other as God cares for us.
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Every once in a while, we need to step aside from simply reading the past. It helps to mention when people do something right today. In 2018, several companies have presented women and our history well during this appropriate month. News outlets and toy companies lead the way in these presentations.
Here in Hagerstown, Maryland, our local television station led off the month in several ways. They have come to highlight women often for entering previously male fields of work. We recently learned of the first women in Virginia to graduate special police training and join the Bomb Squad. Stories abound here of teachers successfully fighting for more money. They also featured an entire week of daily trivia questions to help viewers learn about women’s history. WDVM also employs many women as reporters and producers, a welcome trend in news. Not long ago, we had several female meteorologists, who unfortunately have moved to larger markets, but the men we have now are more than willing to answer questions for our young ladies, a step in the right direction. However, this channel has women in all of the other on air reporting departments, including sports. We need to encourage this refreshing trend to continue, as sports appears to be the last of the news areas employing women. In toys, many have held Barbie as an influence on girls for several generations. Now, however, she takes on many more roles than when she began in 1959. For many years, she represented the “ideal” woman, perhaps a supermodel, often appearing as a princess or housewife. In the last 10 years, Mattel released the iconic figure as a representative of many professions women took. She became a teacher, a doctor, a veterinarian, and computer programmer. Today, my daughter found a brunette Barbie with a strong resemblance to herself, and a saxophone meant for the doll to play. We need to either find or make a more band-style outfit for her to wear, but nothing could beat the thrill of finally seeing a doll do something a real teen does. Many folks even think of saxophone as a “male” instrument, like a trumpet or trombone, which could be nice next steps for Barbie and other dolls to take in inspiring more girls to try something new. In the past, to find something other than a flute, violin, or guitar for a doll of any type, we often went to the music store around the winter holidays to give the dolls an ornament of that instrument to play. By pointing out social successes such as these, we can push companies to help us improve society. Often, good examples inspire others to take up the causes about which we care. When others join in, we show girls that they can grow up to become the women who work alongside men for a greater society. Only when all people work together can we have the peace and justice everyone claims to crave. Oh, no! The second week of Women’s History month befalls us. Inspiration seems to have run dry. What do we do now to find lessons and stories of our great women? Look no farther than the calendar! This week offers at least two great jumping-off points for finding and learning about ladies of the world.
Taking the ideas in chronological order, we first see Pi Day on March 14. When we abbreviated the date as 3.14, we see how it resembles the mathematical constant used in finding various measurements. This reminds us to find the histories of women in mathematical, scientific, engineering and technological fields. For those seeking information, Hollywood gave us a good start by telling the stories of African-American women working at NASA in the 1960s. The “calculators,” as they were known, helped men do the math behind the rockets entering space. Of course, on the scientific front, we can learn much from the lives of women like Marie Curie and her fellow physicists. Even Clara Barton and other famous nurses inspire many young ladies to enter the medical fields, often as doctors and researchers, now. Of course, women also inspire others into STEM careers by becoming teachers of the fields at all levels, from elementary through graduate studies. For an international bent, begin with Saint Patrick’s Day on March 17. Although begun to celebrate the patron saint of Ireland, a man, the occasion can lead to interest in and studies of women from the island. Women stand alongside men here in keeping the culture. Dance troupes represent both sexes in singing and playing traditional instruments while performing Irish clog dance, a forerunner to tap. From there, students can branch out to other nations and see where women stood alongside men in many fields of interest. Besides teaching, nursing, and being mothers, women took first steps as apprentices, then practitioners of many art forms before we took flight in other fields. Authors often took male sounding names, such as George Elliot, at first to gain publication, then famous women like Emily Dickinson and the Bronte sisters struck out on their own. Many generations have followed in all genres. Women also got onstage to sing and act as early as the Middle Ages in many European nations. The earliest famous painter to have been a woman under her own name? Artemisia Gentileschi during the Italian Baroque period completed an apprenticeship and bravely painted under her own name. She painted portraits and religious subjects with the same mastery as her father, Orazio, and other gentlemen painters of her time. Thus, when we feel stuck for inspiration, the calendar can help us. Even cultural days such as Saint Patrick’s Day, or ones like Pi Day meant for education, can help us in other fields. By linking the days to the month in which they fall, we can find a new curiosity for the segment of society we seek to celebrate at the time. We can then learn new things and maybe become curious enough to learn about whole new fields on our own. In this way, ideas such as celebrating the history of women can enrich all of society. March 8 of each year brings humanity to International Women’s Day. On this day, throughout the month, and indeed all year, we need to celebrate our women. Always take time out to shine a light on those currently walking our planet. As with all members of the human race, the best time to celebrate women comes as we contribute to society. The question remains, how do we do this?
We need to provide the future women and men of our society with relevant definitions and examples. Be sure everyone knows that feminism refers not to making women superior to men, but to making the sexes equal. Also, let people of all kinds know that feminism seeks to bring equality and justice to all gender groups. These differ from the sexes in that sex gives us biological equipment, while gender provides the social constructs to act upon that equipment and the mentality it brings the bearer. Careful observation shows us time after time that doing away with traditional gender roles creates a happier society. People do not require a construct in which women only raise children and men provide all strength. Many girls enjoy playing sports or driving toy cars, while boys can learn to become good fathers by playing with dolls. When we allow these roles to blur, people of all types learn more things to teach future generations, and happier teachers create better learning situations. The more learning situations we provide, the better those of the next generation can decide what roles suit them. How else can we provide examples? Help our youth dig into the history books. Show them literature from previous generations. Take them to meet current people engaged in various fields. Discuss how these people, real and imagined, show the best or worst in human living. Talk about how the situations may or may not apply to life today or in the future. Answer or help get answers for any questions the youngsters may have. Hold up the upstanding in history as examples of how society needs all kinds of people to function. Show how the past connects to the present, and then the future, as you demonstrate the examples. Discuss how principles from the historical person or literary character can apply to life today. Do what you can to implement those in your life as a practical example to the young person so she or he sees how to do the same. We need to celebrate mothers, teachers, and women of all kinds. Look in the newspaper and on television for those who report the news. Talk about women in the stories presented there. Find examples of women making art, doing math and science, or studying how social products relate to society. Help a youngster extrapolate from there to find her or his interests. Chat about how those interests can become hobbies or professions. Help the youngster seek training and information in the fields to cultivate those interests. In these ways, parents, teachers, and all people of the community can help children learn. When we uphold women as well as men as examples of humanity, all people better learn how to come together. Women can run computers and corporations while men nurture and teach young children. Boys and girls can play sports or learn to cook together. All people can feed their bodies, souls, and minds on information they find relevant and engaging. Thus, Women’s History Month gives us the chance to learn how to integrate society into one cohesive unit and begin the process. |
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