Monday, November 15, 2010

Country Women...


This is the book that I am currently reading.  I checked it out from the library (our library carries lots of older, wonderful, classic books!!).  I'm reading homesteading books right now--you can never know enough, right?!  Anywho...  I love all the information since it's geared toward women and it's not filled with macho-ese (male speak).  ;-)  However, since it was written in the 1970s it's a bit dated.  But the biggest drawback is that it has a lot of feministic viewpoints.  Well, I guess that's a no-brainer!  Written in the 70s by radical homesteading women = feminism. 

The diary that is interspersed throughout the book is written by a young woman who begins homesteading with her husband and then, through much introspection, walks the path of "discovering" herself.  She ends up splitting up with her husband which I find very sad.  (To be fair, I haven't gotten to the end of the book yet so I don't know the end of the whole story yet.) 

She claims that she abdicates herself--gives way to the preferences of others too often--particularly her husband.  In feminism it's all about "how can I best fulfill my potential?"  And while I believe that women should indeed fulfill their potential, the thing that I love most about Christianity is that I don't have to wander around in the dark wondering who I really am and what I'm supposed to be doing with my life.  I don't have to feel ashamed of being a wife, mother and keeper of the home, for these jobs are sacred callings.  I don't have to feel anger when I give of myself to my husband and children by taking care of their needs and neglecting some of my own.  The Lord has given women a deep desire to nurture (people, animals, our homes, etc...) and something dies inside of us when we ignore that desire.  I think that nurturing is a woman's defining characteristic and it's a shame to feel badly about ourselves for displaying that trait.

I believe that a woman can be strong, have a full and productive life, AND fulfill their nurturing desires without getting lost in trying to "find ourselves".  It can be difficult to balance each of these things.  I know I tend toward feminism way more than I would like due to the influences of the world we live in and just plain sinfulness.  But I know that I feel best when a balance is achieved.  And when I count as blessings those things that would seem to be abdication, then I feel joy for being a little bit of Jesus in someone's life.

So that's a few random thoughts on the subject of feminism.  And regarding the book--I'm enjoying the homesteading, pioneering spirit and thanking the Lord for His gift of salvation and direction in my life!!

2 comments:

grammy said...

Sounds interesting...like most books you havbe to weigh out the pros and cons I guess.
You kitty looks like our cat. Mine is 15 years old. I just widh she didn't shed so bad (o: I inherited her from my Mom after she passed away. I have had other cats that did not shed like this.

Teena said...

Thanks for your comments... on my blog. You are very encouraging to me.

You are right.... so often our children are not grateful. Mandi saw so much. Please pray for her as she processes everything.... I think we were joined at the hip. I am better now but last week was tough. whew....

how is everything going to at your place....

Hugs,
Teena