Carrie, Feminist

I am a girl who has never really given much thought to "Women's Lib" or other feminist movements. Not that I didn't agree, but I never really thought about it nor did I really care much about it while I was growing up. 

I grew up in a church whose stance is that women have just as much right -- and ability -- and giftedness to be in positions of leadership as men do. I remember people leaving the church when the official stance was taken. People (even women) believed that men should have the leadership roles in the church.

I don't know when I started noticing how much of a man's world this is. I guess I've noticed before but I don't think I really paid attention until recently. Have you noticed how much attention sex trafficking has gotten lately? I've started learning more about it and the typical way that men get young girls involved in sex trafficking is that they find a girl who's vulnerable and they pay her lots of compliments and pretend they're gonna be her boyfriend and then she wants to follow him wherever he goes. If he suggests that she oughta start working at a strip club, she does it to please him. He moves from the strip club idea to sex with other people idea...and it goes even more downhill from there. One of the ways he traps her is by gettin' her hooked on drugs... Then she needs a fix and he's got all the power.

Probably most of you have figured this out, but the reason those evil men do that kinda thing (well, it's probably multi-layered) is the sense of power they get from it. And, I believe the reason they like it is 'cause they're insecure. 

That's my theory. Men who feel THEY are smarter or stronger or better-suited to a job or should make more money than women or should be "the boss" over their wives are afraid & uncertain of their own worth. 

I am thankful that I had a father who was confident enough in his manhood to allow my mother to be who she was. My mother was a pretty traditional mother, but my father never tried to "put her in her place." He respected her and honored her just as she did him. They didn't have a perfect marriage, but they treated each other as if they were both of equal intelligence and worth.

I am also more thankful than I can even begin to say that I married a man who does the same. He encourages me and loves me and would support me like crazy if I wanted to do ANYTHING. And, what I appreciate about that -- even more than simply because it makes me feel good -- is that he's comfortable enough in his manhood not to have to be "lord" of the household.

My dream for my girls is that they find people who love, encourage and respect every single part about them -- their intelligence, their creativity, their beauty inside and out -- EVERY. SINGLE. PART. OF. THEM.