Sexism and the Organization (page 3)

palmtree67

There are NO male housekeepers. NONE.

Is this true?

I thought there were brothers assigned to housekeeping.

Georgiegirl

@Palmtree - last I heard - yes and no. There are brothers assigned to the housekeeping department, but only in a ...

(wait for it)

Oversight capacity.

(sigh)

palmtree67

I thought I just read an experience on here from someone who told about an inteeligent young brother who went to bethel and got stuck cleaning toilets for years.

Just wondering.

MiseryLovesElders said, '"yesterday's WT lesson had a picture of a sister doing construction work. She was on a scaffold, with a hardhat, harness, the whole 9. Women in Bethel do run forklifts, and do other jobs that we usually take for granted are men's jobs. So maybe things are changing a bit..."

I would bet anything that any changes in that direction result from a reduced number of brothers volunteering for Bethel, rather than any improvement in the Watchtower Society's attitudes towards women...

I always suspected that their attitude towards women being housewives and hubby being the "breadwinner" was based on their eternal 1950's mentality... Plus, it had the added benefit of crippling the sisters' abilities to LEAVE their hubbies and the religion - helped hobble them to the Watchtower Society, in much the same way that their anti-college-education stance hobbled and crippled the brothers financially...

Zid

ziddina

What SuperPunk said... "The bible was written at a time when women were regarded as property, second-class citizens, and reflects that overall world-view.

Is it any wonder that a cult who ascribes to biblical literalism (infallible/inerrantism) would subscribe to this archaic viewpoint, and reflect it in their "advice" for women in the organization? ..."

The Watchtower Society - in fact, I suspect Christianity in general - likes to make claims that the Israelites treated their women "better" than the surrounding nations...

Nothing could be further from the truth...

The Sumerians were limited to ONE wife - at least 2,000 years BEFORE the bible was even written!!! The ONLY reason that they could ever - EVER - take a second - and ONLY a second - wife, was if the first wife proved infertile...

Amongst the Babylonians, they were allowed a second wife, by the time of Hammurabi. But in his law code, Hammurabi allowed second wives to OWN THEIR OWN BUSINESSES (if hubby approved) and KEEP SOME OF THE PROFITS. They are clearly described as their OWN business, not just "profits"...

Try running that past the Israelites... Check out Proverbs 31: 10 - 31, wherein the "capable wife" is referred to, as buying a field with her "profits", yet there is no legal system mentioned by which she can actually own land...

Can anyone point out a biblical, Levite law that allowed Israelite women to own land???

Zid

brotherdan

PalmTree: You're right about brothers cleaning toilets in bethel. I did that myself. But it's not done in the residents. This is done in the offices and other buildings along with other cleaning duties. But elderlite was right (I'm a poet). Brothers work with the housekeepers for a day when they get to bethel to "appreciate" the crap that they have to do. It's near to impossible for a sister to get out of housekeeping, at least that i saw. They would have had to have been at bethel for years before they would be considered for anything else.

I'm not trying to imply wrong where it's not at. Sexism just seems to be a slight overtone through the whole organization, to me.

wantstoleave

While I am 'domesticated'...lol...I hate to cook! But being the good JW wife I was, did it because I was supposed to . My good for nothing ex refused to go out to work, so even while pregnant I worked full time and then again when the babies were 3wks old, plus get up at the crack of dawn to do all the housework so he could sit on his butt all day. He saw no need to 'provide' for his family. He was in no way a spiritual head either. Yet when it came down to it, it was 'his way' or the highway .

Didn't matter that I was (still am) chronically ill. The elders never bothered to tell him to pull his finger out either. As long as they saw us at meetings, they didn't care and thought everything was dandy.

Headship has always been a topic of contention for me because I've seen men abuse it. There are however some good JW men out there who respect their wives and treat them like princesses, but unfortunately it's few and far between. I still remember hearing a brother I knew go to the elders because his wife wasn't 'rendering him his due' as often as he wanted. The elders then had a sit down meeting with her and told her she HAD to, whether she was tired or not. Nevermind she was working, taking care of 4 kids and running a house.

jamiebowers

I still remember hearing a brother I knew go to the elders because his wife wasn't 'rendering him his due' as often as he wanted. The elders then had a sit down meeting with her and told her she HAD to, whether she was tired or not. Nevermind she was working, taking care of 4 kids and running a house.

Geez, when I went to the elders about my jw husband beating and strangling me, he wasn't told that he had to do anything. I, on the otherhand, was advised to be a better wife and wait on Jehovah. Sounds like there might be a pattern here.

meangirl

I personally don't see any subtle sexism in the org at all. It is blatant and outright. I just can't figure out why the society is so afraid of women and specifically women and power.....I noticed it right off the first time I went to the KH when I was 13 and now as an adult woman it sickens me. One of the many reasons I got out....completely disgusting....

Sexism and the Organization

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