“I don’t understand the line of thinking that says men are created to be all manner of things, with all manner of skill, temperament, and talent. They can do whatever they like as far as vocation is concerned. Yet women, despite having all sorts of gifts, temperaments, talents, and abilities, all get the same job.”
-5/15/18 reader comment
Believe it or not, there is sense to be found on my least favorite blogger’s Facebook page, but it’s not from her. Surprisingly, I seek wisdom from visitors in the comment sections. Granted, most of the comments are disgusting attempts from readers to ingratiate themselves with the blog author, which make me even more infuriated than the original post, but once in a while you find a comment like the one above and you suddenly have hope for the future of humanity again. These rays of sunshine poking through the haze of sexism and outdated gender roles remind me that not everyone buys into the fanciful belief that “the good ol’ days” were back in the 50’s and 60’s. Or even earlier! For some reason returning to the time before civil rights and women’s suffrage seems appealing to certain folks. The modern world just has too much equality, too many freedoms, and far too much tolerance for their tastes! But getting back to the topic of women’s careers, here’s what the “Christian” blogger has to say.
“There’s no command that tells women that they must get a job or even make money. Yes, there are examples of women who made money in the Bible but no commands from God that women are required to make money. Women going to college and making money are not biblical concepts so let’s not try to say that they are or are of any value to God.”
-8/1/18 blog post
So she’s the arbiter of what’s valuable to God? Sure thing, lady. But as easily as I could write a whole different post on this troubling idea, that’s not the part of this excerpt that I want to expound upon.
I am certainly no expert in this area, but how can something not be Biblical if it’s in the Bible? This seems like a flimsy argument. I mean, obviously there are things in he Bible that are meant to illustrate undesirable behavior, like conduct forbidden by the Ten Commandments, but I am not aware of any examples of working women that fall into this category. As long as those ladies who had jobs and made money weren’t being used as examples of sin or blasphemy, how can we interpret that what they were doing wasn’t Biblical? I am confused. In most cases these days we females aren’t married off when we turn 18 so we spend at least part of our adulthood single, assuming matrimony is even in the cards for us at all. How are we supposed to make a living while single? There is no guarantee that a woman will ever marry, and she may only have herself to rely on for food, clothing, and shelter. If she has a family, their support cannot last forever, and it’s unlikely that charity (religious or otherwise) will provide for her every need during her lifetime. And this isn’t even taking into account widows, wives who have been abandoned by their husbands, or women who have saved themselves from an abusive marriage. I fall into that last category. Thank goodness I am a career woman who can take care of myself. My least favorite blogger might not like it, but luckily I don’t have to live by her antiquated, misogynistic moral code!
