Wednesday, May 07, 2008
A fourth cackling
How do I have time to blog so much? It's the final week of the semester, and I bribe myself with blogging. Grade three papers, then check blog. Three more, write a post. Grade three more, go to bathroom...
One observation I have is that I was trying to spark discussion about gender in the young Reformed movement, which pretty much failed. To the extent that we discussed gender and the Bible, it devolved into two posts I had to delete. To the extent that that wasn't even the topic I raised, well, oh well.
Second thought I have is that this issue is not fundamentally about men and how they treat women. The issue is how each of us relate to the dominant values of patriarchial democratic capitalism that structure our socialization and our religious and secular organizations. Men are privileged, as a class, but individual men are oppressed, hurt, shut out, and even die as a result of patriarchy (I'm thinking of death in pre-union, male-dominated physical labor professions). Women are not privileged, as a class, but some individual women are able to work the patriarchal system much more successfully than men.
Gender in emergent or any other religious movement is not an issue to be settled, but an element of life to be absorbed and carried throughout life. Individual men need to consider their relationships with women, and women need to consider ways in which they relate to patriarchy, men, and other women. While it may seem tedious to some, I appreciate the way this conversation comes up again and again (of course I appreciate it - I'm one who keeps bringing it up!). We've done good work on keeping it civil, but even more importantly, we've done a little networking, a little complimenting, and a little encouraging.
How do I have time to blog so much? It's the final week of the semester, and I bribe myself with blogging. Grade three papers, then check blog. Three more, write a post. Grade three more, go to bathroom...
One observation I have is that I was trying to spark discussion about gender in the young Reformed movement, which pretty much failed. To the extent that we discussed gender and the Bible, it devolved into two posts I had to delete. To the extent that that wasn't even the topic I raised, well, oh well.
Second thought I have is that this issue is not fundamentally about men and how they treat women. The issue is how each of us relate to the dominant values of patriarchial democratic capitalism that structure our socialization and our religious and secular organizations. Men are privileged, as a class, but individual men are oppressed, hurt, shut out, and even die as a result of patriarchy (I'm thinking of death in pre-union, male-dominated physical labor professions). Women are not privileged, as a class, but some individual women are able to work the patriarchal system much more successfully than men.
Gender in emergent or any other religious movement is not an issue to be settled, but an element of life to be absorbed and carried throughout life. Individual men need to consider their relationships with women, and women need to consider ways in which they relate to patriarchy, men, and other women. While it may seem tedious to some, I appreciate the way this conversation comes up again and again (of course I appreciate it - I'm one who keeps bringing it up!). We've done good work on keeping it civil, but even more importantly, we've done a little networking, a little complimenting, and a little encouraging.
1 Comments:
I'm grateful for the opportunity to bribe myself too: Wash one load of laundry, get to read one Jenell Paris post, write two book reviews, get to read two J.P. posts, send out three resumes...
Just think how productive I would be if you posted more often! :-)
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Robin M., at 5:47 PM
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