Treatment of Women In the Watchtower Society

by phoebed 24 Replies latest jw friends

  • Heaven
    Heaven

    Hi phoebed and welcome....

    Subjugation of women was one of my main reasons for not becoming a Jehovah's Witness. Back in the '70s, the red "Your Youth" book ticked me off royally as it placed the responsibility of proper sexual behaviour squarely on the shoulders of the girls and around that time, another article said that as a wife I had to 'subject' myself to my husband.

    I looked up the meaning of that word as well as the word 'subjugation' and I quickly made my plans to ensure that I not only went away to school in another city once I was out of high school, but that I got myself a job/career that made me too busy to be available for this 'cult'. I wanted nothing to do with being 'enslaved' and 'brought under control;conquered'.

    Subjugation is:

    - oppressing and meant to control.

    - not aligned with Christ's teachings

    - not loving

    - not supportive of creativity, joy, and growth of the human spirit

    This was one of the main ideals in the Bible that also made me realize that the Bible, as well as religion, are man-made. I seek something better.

  • Peaches1978
    Peaches1978

    big ole hug for you, and welcome .......

  • PSacramento
    PSacramento

    The whole subjugation thing is blown out of proportion, Paul said that women must obey their husbands, yes, and also that husbands must 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.

    While woman are to "obey and be subjugated" Men are to sacrfifice and give themselves in all ways to women, love them without conditions as Christ loved his "church".

    It was a two way street, ONE FLESH like Paul said often.

  • jamiebowers
    jamiebowers

    If your problem with the husband's headship has anything to do with domestic violence, please go to your nearest battered women's shelter. "Worldly" authorities take that kind of thing very seriously. Believe me, it was "worldly" people who saved my life from my mentally disturbed, violent jw husband.

  • lingno2
    lingno2

    WELCOME, PHOEBED...i do too find refresh here in the board looking forward about your story.

    To All, please tell GOTCHA he have a PM. Is there a way i could contact him? i believe we are in the same region

  • WTWizard
    WTWizard

    The Washtowel does encourage men to treat women like sxxx. The husbands are supposed to make all the decisions, and the wives are supposed to abide by them (as long as they don't clash with the Washtowel's own rules). Additionally, only men get to run the congregations--which is not fair to a "sister" that is more intelligent, gifted, or talented at running things than any of the men are.

    This does not lend itself to happiness. Who wants to be treated as property? Everything you do is what your husband tells you--submission is what they expect out of you. Additionally, there are all too many men in that organization that go even beyond what is written. They demand absolute submission from their wives. He wants you to regular pio-sneer, you regular pio-sneer regardless of whether you have a gift or talent elsewhere. He wants you to take a crap job, you take that crap job regardless of whether your gift or talent is elsewhere. He wants you to listen to certain music, you listen to that music even if you hate it. And so on.

    And they never do anything about such abusive men. True, you might not get physically abused--but being ordered around like this is just as bad.

  • designs
    designs

    What's the highest position for a woman at Bethel...Head of the Dust Bunny Department

  • WalkTall
    WalkTall

    Welcome Phoebed. I am also still trapped inside. This is a great place to vent, question, or just to find some comfort. Staying connected here is one of the few things that keeps me sane sometimes. Just knowing that there are people with whom I can have an intelligent interchange of thought, freely, and without fear.

    The submission of women issue is what first gave me the uncomfortable feeling, many years ago, that something was not right, not only with the organization, but with the Bible itself. I would be interested to hear what your research uncovered regarding the meaning of the Greek word "kephale". Please share your interesting discovery.

  • yesidid
    yesidid

    Welcome Phoebed!

    So sorry you had to to through all the trauma that learning "the truth about the truth" entails.

    When I was making my discoveries about the deception a very close loved one was dying.

    To be honest I am not sure which was the most traumatic, but it was hell on wheels for a while.

    And yes it does get better, just try to hang in there and ride it out.

    You can do it!!!!!!

    Hugs

    Yesidid

  • VampireDCLXV
    VampireDCLXV

    Hi phoebed! Please accept our warmest welcome. ((((hugs))))

    I'm new here too. I'm glad you had the courage to come here and tell us about yourself. What little you have told us already breaks my heart. I'm looking forward to hearing you story when you are ready to post it here.

    You really do sound like a tormented soul. I know what it's like to be in the bowels of this hell called depression, when it hurts so bad inside that you don't want to live anymore. It hurts to know that the love and acceptance the organization promises you is nothing more than a fraud. It isn't just a problem with one congregation or a smal group of them. The whole thing is rotten to the core.

    Don't worry too much about your spelling and grammar. I've seen far worse among native speakers of english, on many websites. Also, my mother is foreign born too. I know her problems with the english language. You'll most likely learn english much better than even she did. In fact, you already have.

    Again, I bid you welcome. Please don't stop fighting for your freedom.

    V665

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