This is why I LOVE SNL

You preach it Tina!!! (new link posted since the You Tube one got pulled)

Jesus Male Chauvanist? - a repost, note the question mark Leah

Simone de Beavvoir in The Second Sex, says, "How can a human being in woman's situation attain fulfillment? What roads are open to her? Which are blocked?" (xxix). This is not just a question spurred on in a post Feminine Mystique era; the position of women has been a source of debate for years, millennia in fact. Within this debate, Christianity, with its machismo undercurrents, has most often been labeled the enemy. The Church has often deserved this label, but does Jesus?

A look at the biblical Jesus reveals that his ministry, in its essence, affirms women. His actions and even the events surrounding his birth convey the significance and value of women, independent of men. God could have chosen any method for Jesus' arrival on this earth; despite societal disapproval, Mary was the choice. Even the genealogy accounted in Matthew prior to the announcement of Jesus' birth lists women. Jesus' choice to integrally involve women in his ministry demonstrates one of the key points of his message: that we can all come and be accepted as we are. His interaction with women: Mary Magdalene, the Samaritan woman, the sisters Mary and Martha, and his own mother, demonstrate his compassion for their situations and a desire to equip women like Mary Magdalene or the Samaritan woman to appropriately address their lives and change them. His actions, such as the defense of the adulteress woman, shows that he sought to eliminate the patriarchal interpretations of Old Testament law. As much as Jesus called people to holiness, his response to the woman caught in adultery is compassion and protection—a recognition of a system that unfairly condemns the woman and allows the man to go free (John 8).

Jesus' legacy of valuing women continues after his death and resurrection. In the early church leaders such as Priscilla are noted for their involvement and teaching (Acts 18). This movement towards equality despite societal structures is reiterated in Acts 2 with the arrival of the Holy Spirit, promised to all believers, and in Paul's letter to the Galatians: "There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galations 3:28, NLT).

In the end, it was because of his radical desire to change his society's view of women, orphans, widows, and the socially despised that He was crucified and we have freedom. Our salvation and worth are not determined by gender; women are free.

Times are a changin'

So I've been thinking about all sorts of crazy things as of late - like were the anatomy people on something when they came up with some of these names - you think you've got the whole naming thing down and then they throw in a weird one, or the multiple naming business - trapezious muscle and a trapezoid carpal bone - no where near each other. Regardless, I need to get out of bed considering the original plan was do 9-12 at Starbucks, come home make lunch, pack up my stuff - and get to school for 1 - then do what I did yesterday - 1-4 in the recesses of the MBC and then 4-6 on the 6th floor of the AQ. I would normally study on the 6th floor of the library but the whole no food and inconsistant level of white noise drives me crazy. The 6th floor is suppose to be silent but there is always the ding of the elevator, the hum of the cellphones on vibrate, msn messanger on almost mute and being that it's almost the start of cold season which then followed by flu season (January - March)* - sniffles. The sniffles kill me. Maybe it's the repressed motherly instinct but I feel like taking a Kleenex to their face and saying "Blow!" I digress - changes are on there way - Leaha and Leah have been complaining bitterly that I write too much - Leaha makes me read the blogs to her now - a service I will extend to anyone else. And since this blog has diverted from my original purpose which was to produce more thought provoking, dare I say educational pieces - and yes to an extent comment on my life. The hope is with these changes that you may in turn comment - comments are really like best kinds of compliments because they are completely unrelated to my physical aesthetic which by all your silence we've determined I'm high maintenance but no one has or will have the guts to tell me that.... seriously I don't want to be.

So if I can keep my hands away from the keyboard I will be posting towards the end of the week - on the favorite subject of yours and mine - dealing with Christian feminists - I realized that the instruction manual never was circulated and I still run into the same issues - and I promise it will be posted in parts - short, maybe even succinct parts. It's that topic or more likely - career/life etc... since I can't seem to get the poster outside the Health and Career counseling - Career? Get One! out of my head (the picture appropriately referencing my view on things)

*PSA - While I would like to recommend you get your flu shot - it's actually VERY non-Vegan - they use eggs to incubate the virus - which is why I always get violently ill post shot in past years - so thankfully I'll have more than my allergy to get me out of the mandatory health staff poke. So this season do it the old fashion way wash your hands, exercise and eat healthy.

To my beloved patients - please do not harass me when you get the flu in November. Of course the shot didn't work - a vaccine first of all does not work instantaneously, and second - the flu vaccine is developed with a key strain in mind - the one that runs rampant through the population in Jan-Mar. You my friend just lucked out and got the bonus early edition of some rogue virus or more accurately it was a cold.

Photo courtesy of Maplemusketeer

This is a word that will start a tangental rambling

What is subjugate? Aw, I miss Jeopardy about as much as I'm sure Leaha misses those 10 minutes of her life after she asked me to define subjugate. I miss my English classes, I really do, I know I could get into a graduate school somewhere, but seriously what good would that do me? I'd be better off taking some publishing classes through SFU's continuing studies programs - the catch is I'm not really published. My poetry was published in high school, but nothing prestigious. I miss the dialogue in the classes but I also miss the language - words like subjugate, disseminate and liminal, topics like the Haskalah, ghosts and immigration and author's like Chaucer, Rhys and Roy - list goes on. Fundementally it is my love of writing. By what can I do with writing? Leaha's trying to convince me to abandon my MBB minor and switch to sociology. Like I need another reason for why I personally understand the word subjugate or that I can list quotes, texts and ramble on and on. Who knows maybe she's right. Maybe I have to surrender this degree and just apply for the dietitian program in Oregon. But then I guess that depends if I get the job or not. If I get it I won't be able to get in for next year, and if I don't maybe I'll consider sociology or delay the whole thing a year - or maybe I'll move stateside regardless and do my ashtanga yoga instructor training. In the end there is this small part of me that wants my life to do a 180 or what have you for a reason not related to my own indecisiveness or lost feeling. . . but that may just be beyond wishful thinking.

As an aside, welcome to Canada again, my beloved bride to be, Cheryl - and thanks for distracting me at lunch today while we flipped through Martha Stewart. You know when we trash your dress we need to burn the magazines - I hate having them around. I guess the next time I see you will be in a few weeks on the island? Now don't go booking that weekend, after midterms are over I'm going to need a break.

Warning - The Following Blog Maybe the Result of the Full Moon

Or my brain melting under the new stress of the semester. I haven't quite figured it out.

Regardless my loving brother came to my TVless rescue last week when he recommend a website to watch any TV show I wanted. Of course I didn't go straight for the Bones and Grey's shows I missed last year, I went for the tried and true - watched already Buffy - yes another wonderful tidbit, I was a closet Buffy fan - watched it mostly for Spike but whatever that's probably too much information. I digress, I've seen the majority of the last season, and especially the last few episodes, so when I loaded the 2nd to last (?) episode last night, I knew what I was getting - mushiness. Yes, for whatever reason my estrogen took the lead and I ended up watching an entire 40minute mush-a-thon between the love/hate twosome Buffy and Spike. Why? Why is it that women torture ourselves with movies like the Lakehouse - a completely incomprehensible plot when you think about it - but whatever? I would love to be able to rationalize it as the full moon messing with my estrogen, or too much in the way of soy or something, but I think there are greater issues - like I am aware that despite all my fears - and there are a large number when it comes to dating/relationships I'm tired of being single and yet I am not prepared to settle - I told Leaha today - heartbreak is a guarantee but why would you knowingly enter a relationship where that will be the outcome by ignoring your non-negotiable - we all have them, we may not have a list but we have non-negotiable - be them non-smoker, childless, non-divorced etc - not saying that those are mine - I've got mine. But this isn't what I'm getting at - and I am trying to get at something. Why are women programed for all the lusty romantic stuff when our male counterparts aren't and even worse why do we seek it out when we know that it just makes us feel awful in the end?

Enough of the questions, I promised Leaha this wouldn't just become questions... but these questions have been drawn to the surface as I try to truly process this whole online business. Fundamentally it goes against the feminist in me - I know that when I stop and think about it - I am just as offended at the idea that I could be looking at someone for the purposes of attraction as someone would be me. I am aware that some of you know why that I feel this way due to experiences in my life - I realize it's not necessarily normal. In that many women don't feel that being looked at is offensive or to be thought of in any romantic/lustful context should be considered horrible. I however do, again to reiterate I don't look at you like that, so don't look at me like that. However, isn't this whole online thing breaking that mantra? Is it? I've come to this point time and again, and I stand here again and Joel you're probably thankful you don't have to deal with me - but it's the same thing - I can't see it being worth the jump. There is this perverse part of my brain that says pull the plug on all of it, buy Simone deBeauvoir's book, and a download some Sex in the City episodes and you'll pull through this - single on the other end and it doesn't matter because singledom isn't a determination of your worth. And then I think about the image burned into my recent memory of Spike just holding Buffy watching her sleep and all I can think is damn it! I want that. I need community in that sense, honest intimacy with someone else. Bah, it's a mess and much as I would like to blame the male gaze or my own stupid cinematic choices I can't. So what now? Is it going to take someone pulling me over the cliff I can't seem to jump off of? Or am I just going to stand here forever detrimentally/damagingly dreaming of what it could be like?

In defense of Christian Feminism

Christian feminism appears to be an oxymoron. How can you be one and the other as they apparently stand in complete contradiction? The issue is how you chose to define each term.
The Oxford English Dictionary defines, feminism as: "advocacy of the rights of women (based on the theory of equality of the sexes). While the Bible is clear that there are men and women - Galatians, 1 Corinthians and of course Creation to name a few locations. But those locations as well do not indicated that women are to be beholden to men above all, rather they are to function within the will of God. That being said, we are then called according to His will and not the chauvinistic, patriarchal constructs of the Church.

I do not believe it is His will that all women become subservient doormats. Neither stay at home mom's or working mom's should be silenced and helpless. Yes, some women are wholly fulfilled as a stay at home mother. However, others are not. We are unique and gifted accordingly. We choose to ignore these unique gifting when they fall outside the realms of "women's roles," those gifting that leans towards leadership, and independence. Primarily because those roles fall outside the doctrine pressed upon us from the Church and to some extent society. We are to be some perfect balance between the chaste perfection of mute Pastor’s wife in training and Angelina Jolie in all her glory – sexy, aggressive, dangerous and powerful. Somewhere between attempting to grow up and being told literally I didn’t fit the mold for a pastor’s wife, I had a liberating moment…I realized who would want me, any of us for that matter? When you really get down to it we have candy coated the multiple personalities and conflicting values – especially those from the Christian circles under a layer of Revlon and Gap clothing. In the end both expectations do not go together, oil and water. You cannot mold a woman while she's single to be a form of Angelina only to muzzle her when that 2 carat Tiffany lands on her finger. The simple answer is to rid the church of the Angelina's right? Start breeding the new generations in the 50's mold of regimented gender ideology is the solution or is it? Of course I do not believe it is.

The answer? Stay the course, in that it's key that we understand the teachings, while being sure to understand that there are positive aspects to the changes that are occurring. It is not a travesty or the end time when a woman is called to leadership independent of a man, nor should we chastise women who feel like they are called, or motivated towards a goal.
In the end I guess all of this is just as much a defense of me. I feel called to missions and I'm tired of being treated like my passions are the reason that's I'm single. Those snide comments implying that if I could just pack away my type-A personality and passions, I would have no problem landing a husband.