Christianity and the Role of Women - Barefoot and pregnant

In my previous blog, “Christianity and the Role of Women - A Woman’s Place,” I wrote on the phrase – “the woman’s place is in the home.” In it, I quoted a minister who used these two Bible verses to show that a mother should not work outside the home:

1 Timothy 5:14 “I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.”

Titus 2:4-5 “That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the Word of God be not blasphemed.”

These verses are also used to perpetuate the old adage mandating a good wife to be “barefoot and pregnant,” an even more humiliating phrase. It reduces women to nothing more than a tool used for producing a son to carry on the family name or for working in the field.

However, I can see why men felt so strongly about keeping their women restricted to the home. First, the man obviously wanted cheap labor, someone to clean the house, do the laundry, raise the kids (since he was never around to help), cook the meals and a sundry of other household chores that would otherwise be his responsibility.

The only expectation placed on the husband was to put a roof over the woman’s head and food in her stomach and she would do the rest – even satisfy his sexual needs. He was not required to satisfy her though. Since she was his property, he could treat her anyway he wanted.

Can you imagine what the world would be like if women were as sexually satisfied as the men? Think about the clear-headed confidence that follows a man around all day after he has had sex. Oh, that there will one day be as many women walking around with that same clear-headed confidence that comes from sexual satisfaction!

Secondly, by keeping the little lady busy at home “barefoot and pregnant,” the natural result was her continued ignorance about the real world. This insured a timid approach to travel, education, politics and working outside the home. If the woman had shoes, that meant she had the first tool necessary for walking outside the doors of her home. If she got far enough without the aid of her husband, she might actually realize her potential and not want to stay at home everyday while he pursues his own endeavors. God forbid that he’d be expected to share the workload of the house.

Can you believe this type of thought is still practiced in some stricter religious circles? Even today in the 21st century! Is it any wonder why more and more women are turning from religion?

- Stellar1