Is it just me or is the whole world agreed that to be equal, women must behave the same as men?

It seems a woman is not equal with a man until she can waltz into the office and say alright you ‘f*#$$%#@ time to pull the finger out’.

Some celebrate this increase in females swearing as progress in the name of equality. Profanity equates power and so as women seek to rise to the same levels of leadership in the world, so they must, it is reasoned begin swearing like troopers. (“Swearing by It”, Sunday Life, by Tracey Spicer, May 28, 2017).

As we continue to define equality as ‘sameness’ we keep wanting men and women to be no different. Hence, if the men swear, so should the women. No-one asks the men to stop swearing and get a thesaurus. Some even argue it’s good for the kid’s vocab and playground assertiveness! Women, you’re better than this.

SPOILER: DON'T MISS the upcoming release of Anton's inaugural family devotion video series. Don't we need help to define God's way and make it relevant for our kids in these times? Just today I was doodling one of the videos in its early stages and began exploring the issues of equality, marriage and purpose in today's world. They're going to be a super way to work through the Bible together easily as a family.

Porn, now swearing...what's next?

A while back I remember writing about porn. Women it seems are growing in their consumption of porn. What was a primarily a male pursuit, now is being normalized into female behaviour. People cheer this outcome saying that it heralds another chapter in making women equal with men. But all it does is further debase women and lower them to the rung that men have stooped. Apparently, women have recently overtaken men in the swearing stakes, with the f-word used 540 times per million by men compared with 546 times among women.

The problem of double standards

You can hear where this is coming from since men hold the majority of power in business and world leadership and are expected, even excused from behaving badly. In contrast, women are expected to be good and behave and not show aggression.

Here’s the narrative:

Power = Be Abusive

Strength = Aggression

Weakness = Submission

Not swearing = no power

A sign of women gaining power in the office is the day they can unleash the profanities just has hard and fast as the men. But who of our greatest contributors and leaders to the world are the ones who were abusive, profane or down right selfish?

Take working in hospitality. Are you the powerful one who can boss the underlings around and swear at them when they screw up? Or are you the powerful one who can choose to serve instead of demand and demean those below you? Jesus said, ‘the first will be last and the last first’.

Baby Baby Light our Way, (but not that way!)

Rock group, U2 have in their 30-year anniversary of the Joshua Tree tour, began celebrating the contribution of women to the world in one of their songs, ‘Ultra Violet’. Giant screens behind them project images of various women who’ve made a difference. The fact so many third world countries are held together on the backs of women is also because they are the ones taking responsibility. Often, they’re the ones being unselfish, collecting the water, providing the food for the family, developing their communities out of poverty. The men on the other hand are a grand disappointment. Wasting themselves and their families and communities on alcohol, drugs, gambling and prostitutes. It’s not fair or equal that this situation is what it is. It’s men’s failure that creates this imbalance. But the communities don’t get better because the women hit the bottle too. Leadership does not mean ‘my behavior will be a carbon copy of yours’ so I can have power too. Men’s leadership has failed. It’s failed in the West too…look at the GFC! So, girls, it’s time for a new tune. Not the same old.

Dear ladies, I know, I’m a guy; but why, why, why do you want to be like a guy?

We suck.

That’s perhaps U2’s underlying message in their latest playing of ‘Ultraviolet’. You guys can really rock, so light our way!

Get ready for Anton's Family devotion series, to be announce real soon.

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