Why are men not allowed to do the bible study parts at the service meeting? (page 3)

J. Hofer

when i was a little boy i did #3 assignments too as a unbaptized publisher. with sisters. dunno if they still do that.

ambersun

I dropped out because I didn't like the company of these sisters inflicted on me. It was nothing but a nuisance and stress over something I could do without.

Oh how I can relate to that, LongHairGal! It was bad enough having to write a play for two people every time I got an assignment, but my householder was quite often someone I hardly knew and had nothing in common with, who lived so far away from me that it was a nightmare arranging to meet up and practice the talk before the meeting. I had one once who was barely literate and unable to read or understand what I had written for her to say and then became scared speechless as soon as she stepped onto the platform. I lost count of the number of times I had to ad lib on stage to cover for my householders.

I used to envy the brothers who could just write a straight forward talk for themselves alone. At the end of the day, it is all to do with control, the women being given subservient parts to remind them of their place.

nugget

when I was little my mum would be my householder, she never remembered her lines and would always make some comment that was totally unrelated to the topic assigned. I became very adept at spotting the traps and getting things back on track. I also learnt every talk verbatum since having to find the place in the notes always threw me.

I always felt sorry for sisters since they were always less than brothers and got less attention even when they did well.

Chariklo

They teach that they follow all the inspired instructions in the Bible.

So, why don't women still have to cover their heads? Paul's as clear on that as he is on women not teaching men.

The Quiet One

Who was Timothy trained by? He turned out alright.. Women aren't allowed to teach in public because of how it looks. I also wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that if an attractive sister was giving a talk for a length of time, the brothers might not pay attention to the 'spiritual food' provided? Just a thought :)

blondie

Quiet One, it all depends on what men think with....

Perhaps if the woman wore a burka.........

Band on the Run

I am so relieved to hear that other sisters prepared scripts and suffered when a bored sister flubbed the lines. When I was twelve, I believed I should be competent with Witness doctrine that I could redirect the presentation. They said Knorr spoke without notes. I was so young I thought everyone was so articulate and I was the loser.

It is an unnatural role. All these presentations are merely opportunities to quote verbatim from the WT or books. My family had an extensive library. The hall had no library. I wonder how they prepared w/ o access to lit. This was decades ago. The local public library would not have the books.

I cursed my mom for working nights so she could not be my householder.

Writing the patter of fake conversation was hard. I would write a draft and show it to my mom. She would kindly explain why I had to be ashamed and hide all that I was doing in life. I was a candy striper and very proud. The cute uniform was the draw. Everyone thought I was saintly for volunteering a hospital. When I wanted to reference being a candy striper, she explained how it would be an excuse to lecture me about not spending the time in field service. She was proud that I was a candy striper and very proud of me. The constant double messages messed with my mind.

TD

One thing I never, ever understood about the whole Sister/Householder thing.

The "Theocratic Ministry School" is to teach JW's how to speak and teach. Right?

It is the School Overseer (Or whatever you call him) that is actually the teacher here. Right?

Therefore, the one who is giving the talk is actually the student here. Right?

That's why they call it the Ministry School. Right?

Therefore an eight to ten year old boy giving a reading assignment is not a "Teacher," he's a student. Right?

--Then why can't girls give reading assignments too? Because facing the congregation = teaching? --That's ridiculous. Who seriously thinks an eight year old is a teacher in the Biblical sense?

In the same vein, why can't older JW females face the audience in the context of the Ministry School? In this context, the one giving the talk is actually the student. They call them "Student talks" for a reason.

I can think of several scenarios where a JW female might need to speak directly to a group of non-JW's. From what I've observed, JW women would certainly be better at it than the men. (Maybe I just answered my own questions...)

Band on the Run

I've said this before but what species of man are Jehovah's Witnesses males. They are puny and emasculated to fear the power of women's sexuality so much. There is this Madonna/Prostitute complex running through the culture. Women are either pathetic pet dogs kept to do chores and baby the man or we are insatiable harlots.

A true man would be comfortable with his sexuality and see women as a compliment to men. The genders are equal. What angers me greatly is that women buy into this culture. All the talk about finding a brother as though one's life is insufficient unless a brother is present. My cousin;s husbands were all saps.

These are men with few trades, education or social skills. The only power these men have is from what the women abrogate, These women are step-n-fetch its. Very sad.

aristeas

onthewayout hits the nail on the head:

'They created the sit-down talks on the Theocratic Ministry School just for women, so they could give them an assignment in the meeting yet retain their silly notion that women were not teaching the congregation.'

Why are men not allowed to do the bible study parts at the service meeting?

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