Why is it so difficult for some men in seminary or church leadership to have a simple conversation without bringing in gender-topics. I am not at seminary to "fight for women's equal rights," I am not at seminary to "represent half of our world's population." Believe it or not, I'm actually at seminary to learn!
In my Christian Thought class we're just beginning our final project: write a 13-page Theological Commentary on the topic the teacher chooses in a pre-assigned group. Not too bad so far, right?
Today we received our topic: Creation and Humanity. That's a topic with numerous Biblical texts- sounds easy enough.
Next comes the group assignment. (Here's the kicker!)
Our group consists of one man and three women (myself included). Here's how our introductions played out:
Man: "You're all MFT students, right?"
This lovely gentlemen assumes all women enrolled in seminary are in the Marriage and Family Therapy Program to be therapists. Classic.
2 Other Ladies: "Yes."
Me: "Um, sorry, no."
Man: "Oh, okay." Topic quickly dropped.
The self-proclaimed leader continued on...
Man: "So, I thought we'd start out by making sure we're all on the same page. I believe that women can teach, but they can't be elders or pastors. We all agree with that, right?"
You'd be horribly ill with how many times I've had this SAME scenario played out within the last two semesters of seminary. Ugg.
I kept my cool and politely informed the gentleman that we have differences in opinion.
I never cease to be amazed at the narrow-mindedness of some people. I am so tired of fighting for myself, proving that I have every right to be attending this seminary. I could fill my blog with multiple pathetic interactions, but all it does is make me sad and frustrated at the box we put women into.
I am hoping and praying God gives me grace for this uneducated person. I would not want to be a female in his congregation.
Okay, my rant is over...oh the joys of being a woman in seminary!!!
Btw, this is not a male-bash- I have met some great men too; the onslaught of annoying ones is just tiring sometimes. Not all men are belittling. There's hope!
