feminine-genius

Maureen on Maureen

My head is spinning. Short of getting my hands on the NYTimes Magazine from the weekend, I can only read about Maureen Dowd's piece which is a boiled-down version of her upcoming book. Here, Maureen Miller slices and dices Maureen Dowd's article from her own "salty Jewish" frame of reference:

In the past, I've taken issue with Dowd's brand of screwball feminism ("screwball" in the Hepburn and Tracy sense.. For this previous inspiration, see January 13, 2005's "Men Just Want Mommy," where we first heard her oft-repeated quip that "art is imitating life, turning women who seek equality into selfish narcissists and objects of rejection, rather than affection." In the aftermath of the hype behind the spineless Kunkelites, though, who ask we do nothing less than to reject men who don't deserve us first, I say," good show"! It's nothing less than refreshing to see La Dowd take these sad-sacks on for their solipsism and expose the predators within.

Got that?? Neither do I. All I have for a take-away is overwhelming confusion about the whacky world of women and what they want, or whine about, or wish for, or ... whatever. Can you imagine lunching among the sisterhood in these vicious, catty, grasping circles? Can you imagine being an eligible male in these circles, looking for ... [gasp] love?

There are so many inuendoes, slams, and inside cuts in this short piece that I almost dread the whole article. Perish the thought of taking on MoDo's tome, but we'll see. These women have truly created an alien world: and men, children, and women of authentic faith may prefer to stay on planet earth, amd make sure our daughters (and eligible sons) do as well.

Suffering for the sins of the parents

American women are choosing to have children out of wedlock at record levels. The numbers clearly show that it's not just teenagers, who make up a quarter of such deliveries, but mostly women in their 20's.

The increases in unmarried births have been among women in their 20s, she said, particularly those 25 to 29. Many of the women in that age group are living with partners but still count as unmarried mothers if they haven't formally married, Ventura noted.

Now, I wonder why. Is it birth control "failure?" Attempts to "glue" the man to the nest with offspring? Naivete about what will happen years down the road without marrying the father of the child? Fear of marriage? Ambivalence about marriage, since the vows are so easily broken? Ignorance of statistics about children who are born out of wedlock?

Could be any of these, or probably a combination of them all. Sadly, deliberately bringing a child into the world without a lifelong commitment from his father is fraught with dark projections. Boys and girls each need a father for healthy emotional growth and statistics show that common law marriages (with or without children) are terribly unstable.

Women have usually had the upper hand in demanding fidelity in exchange for intimacy. All that is out the window with promiscuity everywhere, and the numbers show that the children will pay the price. Wrong and bad.

A mother's prayer

Mary Jo has a son, Chad, fighting in Iraq. Fully supporting his decision to enlist and fight, nevertheless she carries within her a mother's heart that prays for an end to all suffering there.

Mary Jo prays for all the fighting men and women - regardless of which side they've pledged allegiance - because she says, "Parents everywhere are losing children, not just us." She is scared all the time, but can't show it or dwell on it; she said she has put her full faith and trust in God to bring her son home safely.

And yes, Mary Jo Woodrum hates hearing about the deaths of our military men and women, the 2,000 threshold was reached earlier this week, and feels tremendous compassion for their families. She wishes the people here could see the coffins come home, a nightly television ritual during the Vietnam War, so everyone could see the true cost of freedom.

Chad and his father exchanged Bibles, so that now the son carries with him the Good News that his father carried throughout his tour of Vietnam many years ago. The son sees the grinding poverty and need for political freedoms in Iraq, and his parents respect that. They lean on faith in this difficult time:

The Woodrums have also set up a special flower garden for Chad with the Virgin Mary in the center. Each morning Mary Jo walks out next to the garden, and says a prayer for Chad - and all the troops fighting terrorism.

It will be such prayers to Our Lady, "Queen of Peace," more than anything else that direct these efforts to a Godly conclusion. Let's join Mary Jo in her prayers for all involved, and for hope to descend on the desolate in such need.

Converting ends the "cat calls"

We have commented over the months about the growing number of women converting to Islam and now it is reported that Latina women are joining their ranks.

Likewise, it is difficult to break-down the number of Latino converts to Islam into male versus female. But, according to anecdotal evidence and a survey conducted by the Latino American Dawah Organization (LADO), whose mission is to promote Islam within the Latino community in the United States, the number of Latinos converting to Islam tilts slightly in favor of women — with 60 percent women to 40 percent men.

These comments are telling:

Perada, 19, who converted to Islam just over a year ago, is still trying to become acclimated to certain customs, such as the jilbab and the hijab, which covers her head and hair.

"Mostly it's because of how your friends and family are going to look at you," she said. "They look at you like, ‘Why is she wearing that, it’s so hot.’”

But, she said, “I am doing this for God, and one day I will be rewarded for what I am doing.”

And there's an immediate benefit: She's not harassed as much by men when she walks down the street.

“You know how guys [say], ‘Hey Mami, come over here?’ I used to always hate that. I would cross the street just to get away. Now you still get some guys that are still curious, but it’s much less,” she explained.

“They are going to look at me for me, and not for my body.”

Folks, we must understand the Muslim's anger with the west. They see us as morally depraved -- because of Hollywood, rampant sexual license, and blatant immodesty of dress even in those who are not promoting such license. We must admit that women are not honoured in the way we insist on living, dressing, etc. That women would go to such lengths to deny Christ (perhaps they don't know Him very well, it must be admitted), to wear hijab, and to embrace the Koran to guide their relationships and prayer life is a failure of Christians, namely Catholic women (who should know better) to promote authentic modesty and dignity according to the revealed Word of God. (Remember, these Latina came from backgrounds that were very strong Christian cultures, once upon a time.)

Ladies -- we MUST do better. How can we get this message across? It begins in the families, then our little circles, then our schools, and towns. It doesn't require legislation, but wisdom lived so that it breathes and spreads grace. Let's take this seriously!

[Btw, I fing the Latino American Dawah Organization (LADO) mentioned above very interesting. What is our missionary equivalent?]

Where is the feminist outcry?

With 175 million people (almost 3% of the world's population) reduced to migration and/or seeking refuge, Benedict's message for the 92nd Annual Day marking this phenomenon (to be held 15 January, 2006) is especially important. The news he bears, sadly, is very bad for women, who are the majority of these migrants. In his words:

[W]women cross the border of their homeland alone in search of work in another country. Indeed, it often happens that the migrant woman becomes the principal source of income for her family.

It is a fact that the presence of women is especially prevalent in sectors that offer low salaries. If, then, migrant workers are particularly vulnerable, this is even more so in the case of women.

In some cases there are women and girls who are destined to be exploited almost like slaves in their work, and not infrequently in the sex industry.

This systematic exploitation of sexuality has been condemned by the Church for a very long time, but the same world which demands "choice" in the wicked sense, sexual license in the most outrageous realms, and silencing the voice of charity which comes from Catholic quarters now has this phenomenon to deal with (or not.) The silence over the virtual slavery of so many women is deafening.

Dear sisters in Christ, RIP

Sectarian violence in Indonesia is rampant, with Muslims fighting Christians for some sort of ascendency. Very sad, esp the latest news:

Poso (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Three Christian girl students were beheaded this morning. The victims are Yusriani Sampoe aged 15 years, Theresia Morangke aged 16 and Alvita Polio aged 19. Another girl, Noviana Malewa, suffered serious facial injuries; she was admitted to hospital where she is being kept under strict surveillance. The girl will be an important witness to clarify the nature of the attack, perpetrated with sharp instruments as the girls walked to a private Christian school in Poso, central Sulawesi. The bodies were discovered at 7.30 local time (8.30 in Jakarta) near Bambu village. The head of one of the girls was left outside a Christian church in Kasiguncu village and another two near a police station around 10km away from the scene of the crime.

Imagine raising a family there and having to fear for their very lives in the course of daily events. So far removed from our western experience, where "oppression" means not being allowed to dance on the altar of the local parish. We must remember that in many parts of the globe, Christians still pay with their lives for a mere profession of faith.

Embracing Mao

Dale's latest at The Fact Is.

Kristof credits Mao with the emancipation of Chinese women, an accomplishment which "moved China from one of the worst places in the world to be a girl to one where women have more equality than in, say Japan or Korea." Personally, as the mother of four and grandmother of 12, I would regard a country where any woman who attempts to have a second child is faced with forced abortion and sterilization as one of the worst places in the world to be a woman, but maybe I am biased.

Something else is at work, and the inherent Marxism of the sexual left will be more evident as time goes on, if it's not obvious at present. Stay tuned.

Islamic feminists -- same old same old

There is a conference underway in which Islamic feminists are debating how to tweak their religion so that women are treated equally. While this sounds like a good thing, it is simply modernism, Islamic-style.

What is modernism? As it relates to our experience, which is within Christianity (namely Catholicism), it is an attack on revelation. The problem in fighting modernists as they emerge in various places in the Church is that we get caught up in their arguments.

• Should this or that practice (formerly condemned) be condoned?
• What is the meaning of a given Bible passage?
• Where did the early Church go wrong?
• How can we structure the Church better so that such-and-such can take place?

These are all decoys and we get distracted from the fundamental question:

• "Did God speak?" and if the answer is Yes, then "How do we know what He said?"

Now, if He spoke and entrusted His words to certain peoples, then either they have been faithfully handed down (creating what is known as "the faith") or they haven't. What He said and meant is a debate within theological circles and has taken place for millennia. Fair enough, for it accepts the premise that God spoke.

Amazingly, when you ask a modernist if God spoke, s/he will answer No. Thus, when the structure of the religion is debated, everything is up for grabs because they believe it was all made up (usually by men!) in the first place.

So here we arrive at the Islamic feminists. The reason they want to change their religion is because -- I would guess -- essentially, they don't believe in the revelation as offered by Mohammad. Fine --but say it clearly. Don't hide behind "fixing Islam" by recreating it in your own image. If a religion is what it was "revealed" to be, then it cannot be changed (unless God is really fickle, unintelligible, or slowly mutating). One comment from the article:

Muslim women should be encouraged to take a leading role in Islamic academia and re-interpret texts which have been interpreted predominantly by men. As long as religious monopoly lies with a particular group, and religion continues to exercise the social, political and spiritual influence it does, it is hard to see how less fortunate groups are ever going to get a fair hearing.
Dr Saqib Qureshi, London, UK

Other comments reveal that there is a real deconstructionist mindset which links modernists of all religions. Sadly, men wring their hands over patriarchy as well as women, which is perplexing -- except for the fact that women can spin a mind game on sons if they try hard enough. So much confusion out there when God did speak and spoke of all the riches we are heir to if we would simply listen.