Why do women make up the majority? (page 6)

John Doe

Yeah, sorry LDH. I'm a terrible typist. For what it's worth, I agree that men are as emotional as women (except for the whole pms thing. :-) We just don't want to talk about it--difference in how we're socialized.

Gill

Ballistic!!!!! LOL

Now I know that it's not true that women talk more than men.

I have three sons and two daughters.

Is it the daughters who NEVER shut up.....or could it be their non stop chatting brothers and father!

Pass us girls the ear plugs!

funkyderek

Justitia Themis:

Have you heard of the tribe in Africa that had no contact with the rest of the world until it was discovered in the 70s or 80s (may have my time incorrect)? The women are the head of household, which makes perfect sense to them. Men can not reproduce; they can not sustain the tribe, therefore, they do not deserve the power. The women hunt while the men stay home and tend to the children. The women complain that the men are gossipers and demand too much of their time, and the men complain that they do not get enough affection from their wives and that their wives do not value their contributions.

That's quite extraordinary. Could you provide a source please? In almost all known societies women look after the children while men go out to work. This appears to be for biological rather than cultural reasons. Could you perhaps explain how, in this "tribe in Africa" the men fed the children, or how the women carried home the spoils. It is not due to patriarchal oppression that women are physically and mentally better equipped to look after children while men are more adapted to hunting. In the remarkable exception you cite, what factors came into play that overrode the compelling biological urges of both sexes?

Clam

Back in the 1970s aka The Last Days™, when in my early teens, I asked an Elder™ why there were so many more women than men in the Congo™. He said it was because women were at home more when the JWs knocked at the door. In those days when men were more likely to be the sole breadwinners that seemed a logical explanation.

Oroborus21

Greetings!

I am not sure whether women make up the majority of religious believers within the whole realm of human society but I would believe it and for one thing, females outnumber males by a slight statistical majority.

I do believe that women outnumber men within Jehovah's Witnesses for the following reasons that (mostly) have little to do with individual psychology or differences between the sexes:

There are more women than men to begin with
There are more women than men at home during the hours of the work-days of the week who are thus more likely to enoconter prosyletizing by pioneers and other JWs
Because more JW men work than JW women, JW women are expected to put more time into the ministry. Engaging in the ministry tends to "reinforce" the connection to the theology and beliefs (e.g. it is a faith-building activity)
In families with children raised as JWs, due to a number of reasons, boys tend to be given greater lattitude in the activities that they may engage in, in work choices, in pursuit of higher education. They may also be more likely to have to work to support a girl in an unwanted pregnancy situation and to be permitted to get themselves into "bad situations" thus perhaps being DF'd.. All of these things, work, extracurricular activities, higher education, etc. all have a tendency to pull a person out of being an active JW.
The pressure to "marry only in the Lord" seems to be greater upon JW-women than JW-men and thus many more JW-men marry non-JWs than JW-women. The "social acceptance" of such a situation also seems to be biased against JW-women which is really unfair since there are more women than men in the first place (not too mention qualitative factors :-) right ladies.) Anyway, this disparity manifests itself too because a Sister married to a non-JW husband is expected to continue to make meetings etc. but it seems that a brother in the same boat is given much more leeway.
Men being the horn-dogs that we are, I mean the naturally more sexually promiscuous creatures that we are as compared to women, are statistically more likely to engage in things that can get us DF'd. (Plus women often put a better tearful performance in JC meetings so they tend to get a little more leeway as far as punishment - but they are asked much more detail about their sexual episodes than men are asked.)

And then you can get into the psychological-emotional reasons as well, which a can I ain't opening.

-Eduardo

Forgot to add: that because of the same-sex bible study rule (preference) and because Brothers are busy doing congregational matters, a Brother is spread more thinly in covering bible studies with other men thus leading to fewer male converts than women.

dozy

Broadly agree with reasons given - I also feel (without resorting to sterotypes) that women tend to be more sociable than men & are more inclined to build up numerous friendships "in the truth" that both act as an incentive to join and encourage one to stay.

jgnat

Just look what is required of a man to remain in the Watchtower Society. He has to meekly submit to the Alpha males in the congregation, submitting his balls in a little paper bag. If he keeps this up for five years or ten, or if daddy is an elder, he gets to do the same to the next set of converts. And how is he rewarded for being top dog in the Kingdom Hall? He gets to take a verbal lashing from his CO on a regular basis. Talk about whipped.

It's not just the JW's. I see this trend in most churches in the western world. It's because religion in the western world has gone all soft and girly. There's Sunday School and Bake Sales and knitting bees, all run by women. Popular groups like "Promise Keepers" and Christian Bikers are an attempt to restore a manly-man role in the church.

I remember those days standing on the sidewalk/street feeling like a moron because no decision could be made by bros. as to which way to go. Finally, the sisters - without head covering- took the lead.

Only because they wanted to get FS over with so that they could go shoe shopping

Why do women make up the majority?