By Leon Bent –
International Women’s Day is celebrated on March 8th every year. It is a focal point in the movement for women’s rights.
Betty Friedan wrote, The Feminine Mystique, to shed light on the plight of the American woman during the 1950s and 1960s. The book is often credited with inciting the second wave of the feminist movement.
In the years after World War II, the suburban housewife took on an almost mythic quality. She was transformed by popular media into a domestic goddess—beautiful, feminine, and sublimely happy.
A woman tried to devote herself to being the perfect wife, the perfect mother, and, therefore, the perfect woman. Yet, Friedan’s interviews with these housewives revealed that, nearly all of them suffered from an unexplained sense of dissatisfaction. They tried their best to mimic the “happy housewife” that, stared out at them from magazines and advertisements.
Betty Friedan concludes that millions of American housewives are suffering in silence from a terrible and mysterious sense of emptiness. Women have difficulty describing or even admitting this feeling, and thus Friedan dubs it “the problem that has no name.”
Gloria Steinem, world-renowned feminist, journalist and activist once explained, “The story of women’s struggle for equality belongs to no single feminist, nor to any one organisation, but to the collective efforts of all who care about human rights.”
The powerful and endless nature of feminine energy, although it is the greatest gift given to humankind, is mysteriously being blocked from manifesting itself fully. Women are left with a mere memory of the creative power, of the love and surrender of an exalted female energy, yet, we still have an opportunity to recover it.
To speak of female energy is not the same as sensuality, or being a goddess of sexuality, but of the essentially warm, kind and loving spark that, comes from the heart, and which belongs to human beings ever since the beginning of time. It is true that is has been manifested fundamentally in women, since it relates to receptivity, life, affection, and sensitivity, but it does not exclude nor alienate men from being able to also experience it.
Since it is the exuberance of beauty, softness, magic and feminine charm, when it is not present or active in a woman, it points to an evident internal suffering, a discomfort, a self-limitation and an apathy, which generates a state of permanent control.
An often-overlooked epic story sits nestled in Genesis among the well-known stories of Abraham and Sarah, the patriarch and matriarch of Israel.
This is the story of Sarah’s slave, Hagar, an Egyptian woman who was ordered by her mistress to bear a child to Abraham, then thrown out of the household because her son, Ishmael, threatened Isaac’s inheritance (Genesis 16:1–15, 21:9–21). Not once but twice, when Hagar was languishing in the desert, God speaks to her and provides what she needs.
Hagar is a shining witness to God’s true nature: The God of Hagar reaches out to include outsiders, foreigners and the “no-accounts” of the world. As with the stories of many other biblical women and churchwomen throughout the centuries, in Hagar we can glimpse some of the gifts that women offer to the church and to the world.
The Book of Genesis narrates: “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them.” Man (and woman) occupy a unique place in creation: (I)s/ he is “in the image of God”; (II) in her/his own nature he unites the spiritual and material worlds; (III) they are created “male and female”; (IV) God established Adam and Eve in his friendship (CCC n.355).
The woman God “fashions” from man’s rib – He brings her to him; this elicits on the man’s part a cry of wonder, an exclamation of love, delight and intimate communion: “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.” Man discovers woman as another “I”, sharing the same humanity (CCC n.371).
“Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother, and cling to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And, the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed” (Gen.2:18, 21-25).
St. Pope John Paul II asserted, I am writing this letter to each one of you as a sign of solidarity and gratitude, on the eve of the Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in September, 4-15, 1995: This “dialogue” really needs to begin with a word of thanks. As I wrote in my Apostolic Letter Mulieris Dignitatem (Apostolic Letter on the Dignity and Vocation of Women, August, 15,1995), the Church “desires to give thanks to the Most Holy Trinity for the ‘mystery of woman’ and for every woman; for all that constitutes the eternal measure of her feminine dignity, for the ‘great works of God’, which throughout human history have been accomplished in and through her” (No. 31).
At the 4th World Conference on Women, St. Pope John Paul II attested, “Thank you, every woman, for the simple fact of being a woman! Through the insight which is so much a part of your womanhood you enrich the world’s understanding and help to make human relations more honest and authentic.”
“Women are God’s most precious gift to mankind! This world is a better place because the presence of Women as the play an important role in the form of Mother, Sister, Daughter, Friend, Wife or Co-worker. No matter what their role, they add meaning to our existence and they bring love to our life,” St. Pope John Paul II, added.
“As we learn from one another and share with each other, we must always give thanks for the ways that women’s less acknowledged gifts have built up the church and kept it true to its calling to follow Christ faithfully.”
Now, this gold nugget! The authentic power of a woman lies in her capacity to offer tenderness and love. When this happens, couples, families and societies are nurtured, by the most precious and enriching energy that, we can experience as humans.
And, this final flourish! Today, IWD belongs to all groups collectively, everywhere! IWD is not country, group or organization specific! Make IWD your day – everyday!
Leon Bent is an ex-Seminarian and studied the Liberal Arts and Humanities, and Philosophy, from St. Pius X College, Mumbai. He holds Masters Degree in English Literature and Aesthetics. He has published three Books and has 20 on the anvil. He has two extensively “Researched” Volumes to his name: Hail Full of Grace and Matrimony: The Thousand Faces of Love. He won The Examiner, Silver Pen Award, 2000 for writing on Social Issues, the clincher being a Researched Article on Gypsies in India, published in an issue of the (worldwide circulation) Vidyajyoti Journal of Theological Reflection, New Delhi.