A question for all JWs, regarding women

by dgp 13 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  dgp

  My reason to ask this question was another thread by highdose, on whether people felt sorry for subjugated women in the organization.

  With all the advances that women have undoubtedly made, is there any well-hidden anger among the sisters, for the role they have to play? Are there any complaints about it? Do you see the society responding to those complaints as, say, the Catholic Church sort of has, by allowing women to give the host at mass? Do you think the women of younger generations are still willing to marry someone they don't really love?

  In sum, is there any sort of "common goal" for women to change their lot even if they stay in the organization? Or, do they see female emancipation as simply impossible if they were to stay in, as, say, would be the case among Muslims?

  Whatever the organization says, do women demand greater equality?

  Thanks for any posts.
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  White Dove

  I was silently screaming for it when I was in. Single mothers are treated very poorly in the khall, especially if they need special services to get anything out of the meetings.
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  highdose

  i can remember having a convo with an elderette and several sisters. I clearly argued that 1) theres nothing in the bible to say that sisters can't wear trousers, 2) in the bible days men wore dresses! 3) that trousers are not considered to be mens clothing only in the world and haven't been for some time, therefore 4) there was no reason at all what so ever for sisters to wear only skirts and dresses.

  None of them could argue with it, they just stood there silent, until the elderette said " yes but the dear brothers take such good care of us, so i wouldn't go encourging sisters to wear trousers as it might make them want to take over from the brothers!"
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  Broken Promises

  I’d say there’s a LOT of repressed anger among the women in the cong. Particularly those who say, go out in the service as pioneers, and may have better knowledge of what map is suitable for whatever the circumstances are for that day eg flat territory for older sisters or those with prams, and then Bro WitnessOnceAWeek comes along and tells them they’re all wrong and tells them to do a map with hills!

  The pioneer sisters can “suggest” that a flatter map would be better, but if they make any objections, they will be reminded that they need to be “in subjection” to the brother in charge!

  Not to mention the lack of status a sister can have in a congregation, especially if they are single. And I was single with no family in the local congregation, so sometimes the brothers would deem themselves as being in the position to tell me what I what to do. Never mind that I was working full-time, had been living on my own since I was 19, and was reasonably more intelligent than the cleaners telling me what to do! Although at first it was intimidating, I soon realised that unless they were paying my bills, they weren’t in any position to be bossing me around.

  As far as anything organised, no, it would be impossible for anything like that to happen on a large scale. To do so, would be risking chastisement from the elders (men) and no doubt their husbands, if they are typical dub husbands. The only way a sister could demand equality would be more likely in the privacy of their homes, where they can make life hell for their husband if they want to!
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  alanv

  I think the ones that stay in are fairly happy for their husbands to make the main decisions. It is nothing like the situation with the muslims.

  Remember the society do reccommend that husbands and wives should make decisions together. It is only if there is a clear difference in their views, then the husband makes the final desision.

  I think most women in the org. are fairly happy with that.
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  blondie

  Are women allowed by the Vatican to give the host at mass?

  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/22/AR2010012202919.html

  I'd like to see a news article on that or a quote from a Catholic publication.
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  mindmelda

  I always hated that "submissive woman" crap and pretty much ignored it. So did my husband, thankfully.
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  Confuzzled

  I'm not a JW but for 10yrs I was part of a family that treated the women in their family as if they didn't have 2 brain cells to rub together. Much of the time these women were the bread-winners, and more often then not, with more education then the men. It seems now in retrospect, that to acknowledge their (the womens) superiority in some areas was threatening to their manhood. In my year or so trying to understand the JW culture from a concerned girlfriend's, and outsiders, POV, that the WTS has the same mentality. Like, "OMG, theye the fact they can read, write, run a house, raise the kids, hold down a 40 a week & them some job, go to countless meetings, go out in service for 100 hours a month, AND organize KH functions....they'll start having an opinion on the scripture, and the doctrines, and then they'll be on to us!" Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems like they took the family structure described in the Bible and have used it to their own devices.
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  dgp

  I appreciate the answers. It seems to me that the easy answer is that some women sort of like things the way they are, some others very much resent it but know they can't do anything if they want to stay in the faith, and some others resort to more private bargaining situations. But it means that gender unequality is indeed a big elephant in the room.

  I wonder how many divorced sisters stay divorced because they can't find another man, and how many because they don't want another. As is the case outside, admittedly.

  Confuzzled, I don't think you're wrong.

  Blondie, I am talking about a different thing. Your article is about ordained women, which is something the Vatican does not accept (and I can't see the reason why). What I mean is that my own mother is officially an "extraordinary minister of Holy Communion"". She is not ordained, of course. She studied something for one year, knowing full well that her candidacy could get rejected. She had the support of several priests for attending that course, and became a minister. That means she can help give the host at mass. She can't bless the host, or the wine. Think of it as an administrative task. She understands that more people are studying to become ministers, and that her "tenure" lasts only one year, in principle, but she could be asked to continue to play that role. I know this is a far cry from gender equality, but also seems to me like more than what the WTS allows. I would be quick to say that women bishops, as in the Baptists, are a lot more.

  Here's a link from Wikipedia:

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraordinary_minister_of_Holy_Communion
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  White Dove

  I hated the inequality when I was married, too. I silently tolerated it as there was nothing I could do about it.