From reading our class text book, the author Wood (2011) stated this fact in the text, “The most prominent spokesperson for STOP ERA was Phyllis Schlafly, who traveled around the nation to persuade people that feminism was destroying femininity by turning women into men. She told women to return to their roles as helpmates and homemakers and affirmed men’s traditional roles as heads of families” (p. 91).
When I was in 9th grade I went to a Christian school where all the teachers and officials had similar beliefs compared to this statement. The school had a very strict dress code; all of the girls had to wear either dresses or skirts. Girls were not allowed to wear pants at all. I didn’t really enjoy dressing like that on a day to day basis, but I went along with it. It wasn’t until the second semester that I realized why they wanted us girls to wear dresses every day.
During the second semester they made all of the girls take Charm class; one day the teacher told us that the reason why we wear dresses every day, and not pants, is because that’s the way that God wants you to look. God does not like it when we wear things that distort our femininity. Also, all of the teachers taught us that when choosing a career path the girls should choose a more traditional career that is suitable for Christian women such as, teacher, nurse, or a missionary. If girls choose not to do this then it would be suitable to get married and be a homemaker and let the men take care things. At the time I was very confused and scared because they made me think that this was the way God wanted these things and I did not want to accept those things. However, I learned that nowhere in the Bible did it say that women shall not wear pants or that women should only have certain jobs.
Wood, J.T. (2011). Gendered Lives: Communication, Gender, and Culture. Boston: Wadsworth.
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