A WOMAN'S PLACE IS AT HOME!!!!!!

by crownboy 23 Replies latest jw friends

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  crownboy

  All of us know how patricharcial the Watchtower Society (and most fundamentalist religions) is. Men pretty much "run the show", there probably are things a two year old "brother" would probably get to do before a poineer sister can. Why? Because the sister is a female(maybe ), and the Society gives sisters next to no level of responsiblity. This despite the fact that females do the bulk of the preaching work (you know, "God's commision"), and quite frankly a lot of sisters are far more capable of handling certain responsibilities than some brothers.

  A prime example of the "theocratic arrangement" at work was the first time I ever took a group out for service. There were seven poineer sisters, all of whom had been in the "full time ministry" long before I was even born, but since I was the only brother present, I had to take the group out. I was all of 12 years old then, barely two months since I was baptized. Yet, despite the presence of seven more qualified women, there I was reading the text, saying a prayer (a fairly short one), and assigning sisters to work together. I was a little bit shy and embarrassed to be doing what I was doing, but the sisters were very good sports about the whole thing, they all commended me for my analysis of the text (thank god I had read it that morning ), and said I handled myself very well. One even commented "See, you've only been baptized 2 months and Jehovah has already found ways to use you". (As if using me as a pawn in his bet with Satan wasn't enough ) Even though I thought it was the right and "theocratic" thing to do back then, I always wondered why God would want me, a 12 year old, "ordering around" women who were far more mature than me, both physically and "spiritually". I couldn't understand how simply being a woman should prevent you from having a voice, as if women are cursed (or as if men are all born with leadership skills).

  How many of you have had similiar experiences (both brothers and sisters)? Did any of you guys ever feel that it was silly to have a very underqualified man do a job despite the presence of more qualified women, or were you the type who saw things "theocratically"? Just how off is the JW view of women?

  Go therefore and baptize the people in the name of the father and of the son... what the hell, we just need to bring up the yearbook numbers!
• 

  Pathofthorns

  I wished many times they could 'help out' or do something that most of the brothers took forgranted. I got in trouble many times for having sisters do jobs that were supposed to be for brothers, such as having them sign a piece of paper verifying the money in the contribution boxes.

  These things seemed so ridiculous, especially since in many foreign halls sisters were doing many jobs that brothers did locally, since there weren't qualified brothers in many places.

  But the girls went along with it. I'm not sure whether to give them credit for their loyalty or feel sad for their oppression but it always bothered me.

  Path
• 

  IslandWoman

  Crownboy,

  We sisters missed out on judging people, marking people, disfellowshipping people, writing lies, blaming and defaming God, trampling on people's consciences, taking the lead into falsehood, etc.

  All in all we had nothing to do with the gross and filthy ways of the Tower!

  Let not your eye feel sorry for us!!!

  IW
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  RedhorseWoman

  There was one sister in our group who summed up the proper "Christian" attitude for a JW woman. When she got married, one of her first comments was, "Oh, this is wonderful! Now I don't have to be responsible for ANYTHING, it's Ron's job!"

  Guess that's one of the reasons why I'm no longer a JW....even then I thought that was a pathetic attitude.
• 

  Joyzabel

  Why do I feel like a invisible veil, like the Talaban's, has been lifted off my head since leaving? j2bf
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  nelly136

  and then god created great crowd, the online congregation
  with sister elders that would make an average ms go weak at the knees
  second only in stature to the nephilim, and god saw that it was scary and left for bermuda to sip pina colada and reflect on his day
  nelly
• 

  sweetone2377

  You know, the thing that I understood the least about the whole "headship" arrangement was that, while I was living on my own, paying my own bills with my own money that I earned from my own job, etc etc, my step father was still considered my head and I was to be submissive to him. He did not live in my home and I no longer lived in his. This is something that still confuses me to this day.

  Shelly
  Former victim and recovering wonderfully from a broken spirit
  Smile, because we all have been freed from slavery!!
• 

  LB

  I recall one evening, after the elder studying with us left. She summed up the headship arrangement with one sentence. "yeah right".

  I couldn't have agreed more.

  But we still screwed up and got baptized. No accounting for our thinking process.

  
  Never Squat With Yer Spurs On
• 

  Prisca

  LOL @ nelly's comments

  For someone who was born into the religion as a 3rd generation JW, it is hard to imagine life where men weren't considered superior to you, whether in the home or in the KH. In many societies too, men are still considered superior to females ("the man of the house"), and I'm not just talking about Muslim countries!

  Now that I have been out of the Borg for some time, and have a job of considerable responsibility, have been living independently of anyone for more than a decade, and don't answer to anyone but myself, I think it would be nearly impossible to be able to "submit" to any male's supposed authority in the congregation. I would definitely be a "out-spoken" sister!
• 

  Englishman

  Red,

  We recently spent some time with a lady who was keen to meet a man so that he "would look after her and not have to worry about bills and things".

  BLEAH!

  Englishman.

  Bring on the dancing girls!