Photo by wonderjunkie

I believe that a woman should be able to preach. She should encouraged to use whatever gifts God has given her. If she has been given the gifts to be a senior pastor, then she should be encouraged to take up that role.

That said, I still believe in gender roles. These often come in the form of “generalizations” or “stereotypes” such as, “Men are strong,” “Women are nurturing…” etc. A lady named JB commented on a blog that when we relate passivity to being “emasculated” we are relating passivity to being feminine and that she finds that stereotype to be offensive. She writes, “As woman, I’m offended by those who portray passivity as feminine, and strength and courage as masculine. And who imply that there can be no worse ridicule than to compare someone to me: one without “a pair”. Or to those who imply that strong women are too masculine. What, is this grade school?”

She is falling into the classic trap of “don’t stereotype or categorize me.” I guess this goes back to the postmodern thingy. “Don’t metanarrative me.” “Deconstruct the binary of gender!”

Without some sort of categorizations or generalizations, there is absolutely no organization and society will not be able to function. I “stereotype” myself all the time. I tell others that I am competent and responsible. Does that mean that I am always competent and responsible? No. But I am saying that in “general” I am competent and responsible. In order for there to be any type of communication or reasoning, there has to be a certain degree of generalization. Am I saying that others cannot be competent or responsible? No.

There are differences between men and women. These are differences that one cannot avoid. Why are men characterized as strong and courageous and not women? Because men have physically stronger bodies and therefore have traditionally taken a fighting role. Women have been characterized as nurturing because they can physically nurse and nurture a child in ways that a man physically cannot do.

This does not mean that women are RESTRICTED to a nurturing role or that they are less feminine if they do not nurse their children. This does not mean that men are RESTRICTED to a combative role and less masculine if they do not engage in combat.

What it does mean is that men and women are built differently. God has built them differently and I believe he does distribute gifts somewhat according to the sexes. Men are generally more analytical and less sensitive. This does not mean that women cannot be analytical and men cannot be sensitive. Therefore there should not be any restrictions in terms of what offices or vocations people can take.

Again its a generality. Generalities must be made in order for practical tasks to be accomplished. In the same way, nobody is saying that women cannot be strong and courageous. We’re only saying that men need to be and that it is related somewhat to gender. There’s nothing wrong with saying that men need to be strong and courageous. There’s nothing wrong with saying that if they aren’t they are being wimpy. Gender is more of a spectrum than a binary. But there are two ends to every spectrum.