I've been thinking doing a feminism blog for a while and as I started researching I realized I was way in over my head. I had absolutely no idea what I was planning on talking about. I think as I sit here trying to type a blog that rocks your world, I am slowly realizing that if I love what I post and just one person thinks a little harder about the topic I am doing exactly what I should be.
I have people at KR who surround me and continuously pour into me. On Tuesday, I had a conversation at my lunch table after reading parts of Lies Young Women Believe: And the Truth's that Set Them Free. I started reading a chapter on the future and how Satan has been against femininity for all of time (Mr. Arnold, thanks for getting me thinking on this). We started the almost 30 minute conservation on talking about equal-ism vs. feminism, equal rights, and then it led to talking about gender distinctions and the stereotypes of our world based on gender. The stereotypes are the mom is suppose to be the stay at home mom and the dad is suppose to be the worker. Although these stereotypes exist in our world, we have to realize that these are parts are designed to be equal parts. God created woman to be a helper to men. This led to a little debate in the conversation, if taken the wrong way, one might think that the statement in Genesis 2:18 (you might want to take a second and look at the verse) takes away from the independence a woman should have (which is where the whole debate started). My selfish 16 year old tendencies are telling me that I want to be independent and I don't want my future spouse to think I am not capable of working and achieving my goals. Once we realize that God intentionally has a counter part for us, it is important to know those stereotypes don't have to be real and the balance of work and family can be created based on personal preference. Part of the reason I have my independence and hope to be apart of the woman work force is thanks to my mom. Both of my parents have jobs (ironically very similar jobs), both of my parents create a life for me that I love, both of my parents have created an extremely memorable life for me (thus far), both of my parents work hard at their jobs, what both of my parents should know is that they defy a stereotype that exists in our world and I love that about my parents. I wouldn't change the way our life is for the world. I know the time and energy my parents put into creating this life for me, the life that allows me to wake up in a warm house and attend King's Ridge, come on y'all that rocks. As we finished the debate on stereotypes of our world and different rights, we switched tables to the second reason God created woman, He commands Adam and Eve to be fruitful.
Lucy started talking about Republican Motherhood (your duty is to raise the next generation). In the moment I had not a clue where she was going with this and now as I write all this out (& listen to it a second time thru) I know exactly what she means. God grants the greatest gift of all to us (girls), being a mother. What compliment is greater than knowing the Lord entrusts the future generation in your hands. I get it, it seems like pressure because I feel it. I think about it everyday when I wakeup and get worried about the future and college because what if I am not doing enough for my future kids and my future family. The unity that comes together from man and woman creates the balance (like I said with my parents above) and that balance creates a family and the family that creates the next generation. At this point in my story and as a 16 year old, I struggle to realize that my list of jobs and professions I hope to pursue will never be as great of as an accomplishment as being a mother. Don't get me wrong, what I don't mean is forgetting everything I've ever wanted to do. I think the problem we see in our society today is thinking you can't have both. Being a mother isn't something you should have to sacrifice your dreams and goals for (although I am sure at some point sacrifices come).
This led us talking about living life. If I'm honest with you, I would tell you I wake up somedays and just go thru the works; school, homework, repeat cycle. I realized while talking about this and the heat of this conversation that I loved every part of this topic and I loved talking to my friends about it. I really just felt as ease and really felt the influence of friends in this stage of life.
I realize that chances are this blog is all over the place, but if there is one thing you can gain from this it is that YOU SHOULD LIVE. I don't mean go thru the works everyday, but really live and love and appreciate the special moments (like yesterday for me). I'm not sure why I loved this discussion so much, but it might just be because I've been waiting for someone to finally answer the question of where should I start?
What to do next? Take a breath and realize that you have so much life to look forward to, say thanks to your parents (even for doing the dishes) they sacrifice more than we know, realize that there is so much life to look forward to and you one wanting to have kids isn't and shouldn't be a sacrifice from everything else you've wanted to do.
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