Who supports the household?

[Alyosha]

Hi, I found this on one of the links provided on this web site: http://www.orthodox.net/cotc/index.html. Just curious to see what you guys think.

Woman - Salvation of Man, or His Perdition?
Priest Andrew Phillips
How strange it is that often I go out into the streets and I never see a woman. Men I see. I also see pseudo-men, but not a single true woman.

Why is it that so many woman and girls today simply wish to be imitations of men? Why is it that the modern woman has adopted everything that is bad in men, from their jobs to their clothes? Why is it that woman, dressed as men, with men's hairstyles, think that they are attractive to men? All such women can attract are the base desires of the scoundrel.

I do not know what I feel more strongly when I see modern woman - is it astonishment or pity? Worst of all is the "career-woman", a term which describes one who has abandoned womanhood for pseudo-manhood. She has betrayed everything that is noble and beautiful in the woman's soul -she has rejected herself. Their faces are harassed, tired before their time, faces whence all womanly beauty has long since fled away and has had to be replaced with artificial "beauty", make-up. Why follow the ugliness of men's clothing styles? Trousers, called in Greek "frankopantaloni", the pantaloons of the Franks, the enemies of Orthodoxy, are a recent innovation of the Industrial Revolution. Indeed most men in the world still wear the traditional dress or robe, be it in Asia, Africa, Scotland, Greece or among Orthodox clergy. Why does modern woman have to follow the foolishness of modern man? When Adam and Eve fell, Adam's punishment (the result of his sin) was to have to work for a living. And now modern woman thirsts for ths punishment. Why take on the extra - is not giving birth in pain enough? Is not being man's "helpmeet" enough?

In rejecting her traditional role of Christian wife and mother, woman has lost all her power over man. In previous times (and still today in some places, thank Heaven) the house, or rather the home, was a kingdom where woman reigned. Her husband was just that - bound to the house - and duly handed over his wages to his wife at the end of the week for the housekeeping, which the wife was in charge of. O woman, what have you lost! The Christian wife and mother, following nearly two millennia of tradition, free from the bondage of woman's servile position in the heathen world (many examples of this servility can be seen in Hindu, Muslim and the neo-pagan society of today), brought up Christian children. She influenced her husband in all things and the world was balanced by man and woman together. She inspired her husband to acts of noble self-sacrifice, made him to surpass his egoism in the name of greater entity of family or even nation, she tamed his wild passions, in a word, she civilized him and brought him to salvation.

And modern woman? An imitation of what is worst in modern man, she has lost her matriarchal authority in the family, punished herself by working outside the family home, encouraged weak men to divorce - having rejected her inner self, she fights against her own wifely and maternal soul and instinct, which lie buried beneath the idiotic conditioning which men have imposed on her in recent times simply because they wanted cheap labour in the factories they had invented. And that slavery was then disguised under the name of "equality". And that is how, dear friends, woman lost her superiority to man, the proof of this is that the greatest 'man' on the Kingdom of Heaven is the Mother of God.

And modern man? Without the guidance of his helpmeet, without a true mother for their children, without the bright and inspiring example of womanhood before him, without her perspicacious intuitions to direct him through the web of male reasoning, he has lost his way. The words husband and wife are no longer used, they have become so despiritualized that they now talk about "partners", the word used for animals. All that is left is meaningless, empty, irrelevant animal brutishness.

Where is love? Where are the smiles and laughter of happy children? Where is society? Where is the world?

O woman, come back to your senses, come back to your self, and in so doing you may save man from the horror into which he has plunged the world, you may yet save man, who depends on you for good sense and intuitive judgement, and thus save the world.

[Daniel]

Generally, the man should work full time and support his family. The man is, Biblicaly, the head of ther household. He is expected to provide for his family. Tehn, of course the woman should stay at home to do the main part of raising the kids, cleaning house, etc.

Like you, I agree that there are rare exceptions when it can or even should be filp-flopped, but God gave us certain rolls and we should live up to them.

The whole "Everyone needs a degree and a job to be of worth" idea is partly to blame for this idea where everyone wasnt s to go to school and women think that raising their kids and keeping a home isn't dignified work. It is the most dignified work that a woman can do.

I am of the same mind as Nicholas on this. I think it makes for a more stable family, with children being raised by their parents and not by daycare workers, or by the public schools.

Daniel

[Logos]

Volha, that is a very interesting article there written by a priest. I concur with much of what he said.

Nik, good points, very good points.

[Natasha]

I think that in today's world, women are encouraged to believe that they can "have it all". In my opinion, there is no way a woman can have it all without sacrificing something in her life-and it seems as if what is largely being sacrificed is the family.
I work now, but that is because my husband and I do not have any children. I believe that once children enter the picture, the wife should stay home and dedicate herself to her children. My mother stayed home with me for many years, & that gave me some of the best memories of my life. On a similar note, I am also against nursing homes-people need to take care of their family members! To me, a good mother would try to stay home and raise her children. Unfortunately, most people are financially over-extended (trying to make the payments on their 2 SUV's etc) and cannot live on only one family member's income.
I also believe that women should have a degree. When someone asks me about my career goals, I always reply, "well-educated housewife!"

[Liudmilla]

I'm going to date myself badly with this, but what the hey....

One one the greatest influences in my life as a women came from a fellow student when I was in college (the first time around). When asked about her position on "Women's Lib", she drew herself up and looked down as said..."Why on earth would I lower myself to the status of men?" This comment gave me pause to think and as time has gone on I find myself agreeing with it more and more.

While I have in many ways agreed with some of the struggles to equalize the status of men and women in our socio-economic world, I am not a strict women's libber. Men and women do have separate, but equal roles, within their genders. While the role of women and women's nature is frequently put down in church tradition, one need only to look at certain aspects of the New Testatment to realize the Christ himself elevated our role in life. Take note of the story or Mary and Martha. How about the fact that he appeared to a woman first after his ressurection, before he appeared to the apostles. Or how about the fact that more women stayed with Him while he was on the cross than men? Or that he eased a woman's grief and burden when he raised her son from the dead. Or for that matter that so many of his followers were women?

Women's spirituality has for the most part in church history been a secret one. Their stories are rarely told... almost giving the impression that there was none... but this is not true. The problem was that it was rarely documented for all the world to see, as was the case with the men.

[Savva24]

. Take note of the story or Mary and Martha. How about the fact that he appeared to a woman first after his ressurection, before he appeared to the apostles. Or how about the fact that more women stayed with Him while he was on the cross than men? Or that he eased a woman's grief and burden when he raised her son from the dead. Or for that matter that so many of his followers were women?

.

Or how about the greatest human being to ever live, the only one, ''more honorable than the Cherabim and beyond compare more glorious than the Seraphim'', the only one holy and pure enough to bear the Only Begotten Son Of God in the Flesh? Was she not a woman?

In Christ,

Nick (Savva)

[rebecca]

I agree 100% that moms should stay home with their kids. But once the kids are a little older (like high school age), I think it's reasonable for women to go back to their careers if they wish, especially if it's a job with reasonable hours, such as teaching.

One may argue that if a woman has the skills and talents to be a great scientist, doctor or senator, why shouldn't she?

Rebecca