My quick rant

My previous post probably attracted more comments than most of my blatherings. Tickles me, especially since it struck a chord with so many people.

Salaam's comment reminded me of a story that I often tell my class when talking about feminism. I remember a cute coed (not Streak's other Friend, though for the life of me, I can't remember who it was) asking me to walk her across campus one evening. As a young man trying to cultivate the macho image and hoping to be the masculine guy this radio jerk envisioned, I lept at the possibility. It was only later that I wondered what in the hell she asked me to do that for? Don't let my insightful wit fool you, I am not exactly the bouncer type. At 5 foot, 7, 130 pounds, it was clear that she was asking me, not to beat off the potential muggers, but to serve as slower bait. :)

But in all seriousness, it was college where I started developing my feminist ideas. Part of it was the fact that I was surrounded by smart and capable women who were every bit my intellectual equal (and better). Part of it was the toll of being locked in a pseudo-macho world on my own psyche. I realized I didn't want to be the "family leader" who had to carry all of that. I found I liked the idea of partnership a hell of a lot more than I did that alternative.

My Texas friend emailed me and asked me why this guy got to me so easily, or why did I let him bug me?

That is a decent question and one that I don't think I answered to his satisfaction.

Why did that radio jerk bug me so much? Part of it is the generalizations on gender. That annoys me. I have never claimed that the gender's were identical. But some of the stuff is so clearly social based--or in the case of this guy, the way he and his wife interact. Nothing necessarily wrong with that. But no need to extrapolate out and assume that is the natural, God ordained order of things. I could do the same thing and wonder why other men were so out of line with God's creation that they didn't like to cook.

The other part is the using God to justify his own gender roles. That bothers me. Dragging God into this seems unnecessary, and quite frankly offensive. It makes me sympathetic with my gay friends who have spent their entire life trying to fit into someone else's sense of who they should be. That is heavy stuff. Bad enough that there is so much of that out there in the world--peer pressure and fitting in. Even worse when self-appointed experts decide to say that God agrees with him and you are even more wrong. I am always a little amused at how these people assume that God agrees with them.

Anyway, to all who commented, I appreciate it. Made my day. I better get cooking!