Street Peeper Zimbabwe Street Peeper September 2017 | Page 81

From the original setup (Genesis), the woman was created to "help" the man and also cater for his "emotional" side. Remember, God saw that it was- n't good for Adam to be "alone". So given that setup, you'd expect a helper to come and chip in when the man wants help. She'll be sort of like a support. But when the helper feels like she has to be at the same level as the one she's helping, it becomes sort of like a problem. That's why you see the bible pointing out to the fact that women should "submit" to their hus- bands. And the husbands should in return "love their wives as Christ loves the church". Men being the "head of the wife" should lead and the wife should follow suite. (NB: The head of the man is Christ). So there's a hierarchy. GOD Christ Man Woman So since there's a hierarchy, it means each level has its responsibilities and they should cater for the next level on the hierarchy without causing a prob- lem. They'll all compliment each other no matter the level occupied in the hierarchy. That's the purpose of the hierarchy and each level should work within its capacity to help bring out the best of the level it is support- ing. Now imagine if the church (woman) wants to be the head (Christ), where would the body be? 1 Cor 12:14-26 is insightful on how all parts should relate to each other. It all goes down to complimenting each other despite whatever role God has given us. because they were both created equal. But here's the point, God created them equal in terms of his image and not in terms of the responsibilities he gave them. So passively to Adam he said, "Look after the garden" and to Eve he said, "Help Adam look after the gar- den". This is now a hierarchical setup emanating from God to Adam then to the woman. So it has to be respected in all aspects. 1 Corinthians 11:3 But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God. So in all these feminist activities, the idea is to allow women equality with men but it wasn't created that way. Let each gender carry out its responsi- bility as given by the Creator without having to feel like the responsibility is lesser than the ones given to the other gender. Although they might feel the responsibility is less, but it is still im- portant and irreplaceable. It's a re- sponsibility. It has to be carried out by the one it has been given to, whether they feel it to be less important or not. By virtue of being created in the same image of God, both males and females are equal but rather, their roles are differe`nt. That's why God told Adam to dress and keep the garden while Eve would help him do so. So the man was given a responsibility but he needed someone to help him carry out the responsibility. So instead of carrying out their re- sponsibility, they want to now com- pete with someone who got a greater responsibility based on the fact that both were "created in the same im- age". It's like a little brother trying to take a responsibility of the older brother based on the fact that they all came from the same womb and have the same parents. For feminists, it has become more of a resentful approach for them instead of the complimentary approach. So instead of compliment- ing the efforts of the other gender so that a balance is achieved, they want to compete with them which is rather a threat to the males. (Male egos get bruised in the process). So although they might gain a footing in the public sphere, the same mentality continues to dwell in the homes and one of their purposes (emotional support) is clouded. Now looking at the current situation, the helper feels she can take the re- sponsibility given to the man simply At the end of the day, you have a woman who can step out and be bold in the public sphere but who can't be an emotional support to his husband because her femininity would have been clouded by this "conquering the male-dominated world" mentality. It always comes with an expense if you neglect your role and try to fill the role of someone. No wonder why most of the feminists aren't married. It's hard to live what they'll be talking about because it's more like a picture of what they want things to be but in reality it's deeper than that and more difficult to implement. So it ends up becoming a wishful train of thought backed up by a bitter gender. In conclusion Feminism has rather looked at the formal side of things and allowed women to push so they can be heard in the public sector. It might have increased awareness on the mis- fortune the women are facing because of a patriarchal system but it creates women who are resentful and unap- preciative of the fact that their role is unique and can't be replaced by any man in the system they are fighting. Thus they neglect their identity and role in pursuit of part of the man's role. At the end of the day, women must know that the purpose they were created for can never replaced be- cause it's only them that can fully live in that purpose. It can never be replaced by having a great career at the expense of a family and a relationship with your husband. If God had intended the setup to be as the women wish it to be, he'd have made such a system. God allowed us to impact the world differently and by virtue of that, there are those who contribute actively and some who contribute passively. It doesn't mean the one who contributes passively is not important but rather they impact the world in a way different from the one who contributes actively. But we must all go back to the Creator who gave each gender it's roles and look at our responsibilities through his origi- nal plan. That way, no one will feel less important because their role is not as pronounced as that of the other one.