Comments on: Gender Equality: Too Close To Home

By: Mary

Mary — Fri, 04 May 2007 01:56:46 +0000

Just in case people are still reading this discussion…

I think it’s quite significant that even the Family Research Council blog, not exactly a bastion of biblical equality, recognizes the huge global problem of gender-selective abortion:

http://www.frcblog.com/2007/04/the_global_war_against_baby_gi.html#more

By: JLP

JLP — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 02:35:18 +0000

PW-

Thanks for the stats on child abuse.

By: JLP

JLP — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 04:52:58 +0000

I am distressed by the feminist support for abortion also. It seems like they done so many wonderful things for women, and then there’s this awful thing they support. It bothers me that they keep equating feminism with support of abortion. They don’t seem to realize that not all feminists support it.

Because of the support of some of the feminist groups for abortion, I just can’t get involved with them. I feel much more comfortable being a part of the Christian eqalitarian movement that supports the moral beliefs I do and yet works to improve the status of women.

Recently I’ve done some feminist reading on pornography. And although there is much I can support in what they say, they don’t have the deeply moral convictions that the Christian community has about it. So even though I appreciate much of the work they have done against pornography, any work I do will be within the Christian community.

Posts 24 through 27 make me wonder what our culture does wrong in the way it raises some boys that makes them turn out so violence and prone to pornography. I am thinking about starting a blog here on this issue.

By: Lori

Lori — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 21:02:59 +0000

I apologize if I have offended anyone. Perhaps it would be wise if I shared some background about myself.

I would consider myself to be a Christian feminist, so I certainly appreciate all the gains that women have made during this century. I worked for a radical feminist professor at university and helped teach Women’s Studies classes. I sympathize with virtually everything the movement talks about except it’s support for abortion.

Unfortunately, it is simply impossible to deny that support for abortion is part and parcel of the secular feminist movement. I remember attending one rally against domestic abuse. One of the speakers was reporting on the gains women were making in our state, and she included a report on how NARAL (National Abortion Rights Action League) had successfully pressured lawmakers to resist the pro-life crowd and refuse to tighten abortion laws. In the minds of this speaker, then, one form of abuse is to take away a woman’s right to an abortion. Later, the crowd joined in this mindset. As we marched through the city streets, the rest of the crowd (not including myself), chanted: “Our bodies, our lives, our right to decide!”

This mindset has been part of the radical feminist movement from the very beginning, when Sarah Weddington and Linda Coffee helped Norma McCorvey (”Jane Roe”) file her lawsuit to overturn the country’s abortion laws. McCorvey has since become a Christian and pro-life activist, and she says that Weddington and McCoffee never had a particular interest in her. They were simply looking for a test case to overturn abortion. The case was originally filed in 1970, when the women’s rights movement was reaching a crescendo. Thus, liberalizing abortion laws was seen as an integral parat of that movement. Other groups may have supported it, but it was the feminist movement who were responsible for bringing the case, and who are its primary promoters today. It may be unfair to say that they are the only supporters, but like it or not, they will always be seen as the face of abortion rights in America.

By: pw

pw — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 19:46:25 +0000

I am intrigued that when violence against women is brought up, female violence also seems to be quickly brought up. Male violence accounts for 90% of violence against men. Male violence accounts for 95% of rapes; 85% of intimate partner violence. A woman who is beaten by her male partner has a 70-80% chance that her children are also being directly physically abused. Children witnessing spousal abuse are as traumatized as children who are directly sexually abused. A third of murdered women in the USA were murdered by their maile partners; 4% of men murdered were murdered by women. Women DO murder their children (usually by neglect and 85% of them are usually mentally disordered); women DO murder their male partners (85% of the women were victims of abuse.) Men seem to be the only ones who murder their spouses AND children. Males seem to be the ones who walk into schools and target either girls AND boys or just girls (as in the fall of 2006 in America.) Women do perpetrate 51% of the abuse done to children–however, one study found that this is a function of statistics–when a male is in the house, males perpetrate 75% of abuse against children. Male children are more likely to suffer physical violence from adult males (girls more sexual violence.) Women do more frequently less severe physical violence; men do less frequently more severe physical violence. We need to look at gender constructs (including those used by the faith community) which perpetuate these statistics.

A few websites for reference:

(Data:http://www.mincava.umn.edu/documents/herstory/herstory.html)

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/ipv01.pdf

U.S. DOJ, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice, U.S. Dept. HHS, NIMH, May 1996

By: Kathryn

Kathryn — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 02:44:18 +0000

One more thing: Thank you for opposing abortion. You prove that “pro-life” encompasses many issues, not least of which is recognizing women as full and equal human beings. We need not choose between said recognition and saving unborn life. We can-and must-do both.

By: Kathryn

Kathryn — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 02:32:04 +0000

Re: comment #19: Lori, your comment illustrates just how badly some of us who name the name of Jesus need to get out of our comfort zone to love people. Maybe your statement will provide some much-needed impetus. JLP, your comments on feminism were right on the money too. It is a very unfortunate part of American history that these gains were opposed by the vast majority of Christians. It is instructive that feminism in America had Christian beginnings. Those who reject feminism sometimes do not realize this. They also do not realize how much of their opinions were formed from second-hand information, filtered through right-wing commentators who of course are not sympathetic with either women’s rights or civil rights for African Americans.

By: JLP

JLP — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 00:49:09 +0000

I made a mistake in my last post. I said:

Although feminists are totally responsible for what happened with abortion….

I meant to say:

Although feminists are NOT totally responsible for what happened with abortion….

And I want to reword my last paragraph:

The feminist movement has its faults in its handling of women’s issues, but so does the Christian community.

By: JLP

JLP — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 00:45:47 +0000

Although some Feminists did help push abortion, so did many non-feminists. Many people who don’t support feminism do support abortion. Although feminists are totally responsible for what happened with abortion, they are partially responsible. I wish they had not been.

However, feminists are totally responsible for the following: women’s right to vote, married women being allowed to own property and women having protection against physically abusive husbands. Without the feminist movement women would not have had these gains. Unfortunately, at every step of the way part of the Christian community opposed these improvements in the status of women.

The feminist movement has its faults, but so does the Christian community.