“I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar!” That was the battle-cry of women in the 70’s, a Helen Reddy song released in 1971 and one that I sung with all the gusto a 13 year-old girl could muster that year. It was all about equal rights for women, equal pay for equal work, believing that girls could do anything just as well and maybe even better than boys!
Rather than sign up for the girl’s sewing and cooking options in my high school, my three friends and I signed up for shop class and we became the first girls in our school to do something so radical. We were ridiculed and bullied for that “rebelliousness” not only by the boys who did not like seeing girls in the shop class, but also by the girls who thought us “freaks” and tomboys. Still, undaunted, we took apart and rebuilt an old Briggs and Stratton lawn mower engine, tried our hands at welding and participated in metal working and at the end of the year felt like we had actually accomplished something huge for the feminist movement.
That was then…
In 1977, I met the love of my life and we married two years later. He led me to the Lord and together we became a dynamic duo that raised three children to adulthood and we are now involved in the lives of three, wonderful grandbabies. Over these close to forty years, I have learned the true meaning of being a strong, powerful woman not by the world’s standards but in being “submissive” (1 Peter 3: 1-2) to my Godly husband. That word has not threatened my femininity one bit because it draws me into rightful obedience to God. My husband is the Spiritual Leader in my home, and rightly so! He is the head of our household. (Ephesians 5:23) He does not dominate me, he cares and loves me as Christ loves His church. I am proud that I am striving to become a Proverbs 31: 10-31 woman, because I am more valued and respected now than I ever was during those Feminine Mystique years!
This is now…
This past weekend I witnessed what was touted as “an inclusive event and everyone who supports women’s rights are welcome.” It could have been an historical event to support women of all races, religions and cultures. To rally behind the disenfranchised, to show love and unity and let our voices send messages of peace and hope to those who do not have a voice. However, as I have learned over these few days, what actually transpired was a monumental lie. It was an inclusive event only if you were pro-choice, and shared the liberal, cultural feminism that pervades our society today. Women who shared different opinions, who were Pro-life advocates, and held mostly conservative views were not allowed to march. Instead, they were turned away, ridiculed and even bullied. In a documented incident here in Alberta, a woman reporter was actually punched by a man as she tried to cover the Edmonton rally.
That absolutely sickens me.
I was appalled by the pictures of women wearing women genitalia masks and the profane-laced vulgarity they displayed on their posters and spewed into microphones to rally those gathered into supporting their hate-filled cause. That kind of pornographic diatribe was not fit to show, let alone support!
Instead, they ostracized more men and women with their vindictive slogans and venom-filled agenda than they managed to win to their cause. I, for one, felt violated, horrified and ashamed by what transpired there in Washington and around the world, and I wish the images on T.V. and on social media could be erased from my memory forever.
Lynn Dove's Journey Thoughts 