Sturdy womanhood is on the decline.
Just a few days ago, I was in the grocery store carrying a 5 pound bag of flour. A little boy wandered past me and patted his mother on her arm.
“Mommy, do ladies have muscles?” She smiled as she looked down at her son. “Ladies do actually have muscles, just not as big and strong as men’s muscles.” Despite his mother’s answer, the little boy confidently concluded, “I’m quite sure that ladies have no muscles at all.” I chuckled as I finished my purchase, but it set me to thinking.
In today’s culture we have seen the de-feminization of women in every area of womanhood. The Bible makes it clear that men and women are equal, although we as women are under the authority of men, and we have separate roles; yet our culture has become expert at blurring that distinction. And this blurriness has led to an expression of femininity which often looks very masculine.
Believing women understand that the culture has it all wrong. But in our sincere desire to be feminine and biblical, we may fall into the trap of becoming lazy, complaining, and complacent women – even to the point of believing that fragility might be properly equated with femininity. Hmm . . . sounds like a woman with no muscles at all.
But is that really what the Bible calls us to be? My thoughts sift through the stories of Deborah, Abigail, Esther, Ruth, and even Mary. What if we too are mistaken in how we view true womanhood? My mind flew to the oft quoted passage of Proverbs 31. I knew there I would find a proper view of virtuous womanhood. As I read and began to dig deeper in my study, I found some rather astounding facts.
Non-Wimpy Womanhood
Sandra Cobble (www.oldpaths.com) describes the word virtuous as a translation of the Hebrew word, chavil. This word was used to denote strength, power, or might and could be used to describe the strength of God, the physical strength of man, or even the strength of a plant. Further, it was translated as both valor and army.
Specifically, Sandra notes that when the word virtuous was used of a woman, it expresses that she had the attributes of her male counterpart, indicating that she had not only physical strength and moral purity but also strength of character.
Consequently, the virtuous woman is a strong woman in all facets of her life.
(PREPARING THE MEAL ~ DANIEL RIDGEWAY KNIGHT)
So, it began to dawn upon me that the weak and wimpy form of womanhood we see today is also a part of the de-feminization of women. God never calls us to be delicate and helpless.
He has gifted each of us with talents and gifts equal to men, and He expects us to use them to support our husbands, strengthen and nurture our families, and to further the kingdom. He calls us to be women with muscles!
(THE FISHERMAN’S DAUGHTER)
What would it look like if women were hardy workers, patient sufferers, and faithful helpmeets and mothers, doing much but expecting little in return? What about women who not only managed the domestic duties of a household but joined their husbands in manual labor?
What about women who had great fortitude that settled the wild frontier and killed the invading beast when her husband was away? What about women who made the commitment to be hard workers, strong in fortitude and labor, ever vigilant in the duties of home and family?
What about women who are victorious warriors in prayer, minister to those who are in need, both spiritually and physically, and who are willing to get their hands dirty to love others?
(THE WASHERWOMEN)
Let’s be sturdy women, content in the present and brave to the future. Let’s be women with muscles!
(CUTTING THE WEEDS ~ DANIEL RIDGWAY KNIGHT)
“She girds herself with strength, and strengthens her arms.” ~Proverbs 31:17
Pin It! Pin It!
(YOUNG SHEPHERDESS – WILLIAM-ADOLPHE BOUGUEREAU)
(This post was written by my daughter in November, 2011)
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Thanks for reading!
Aaron Dickson says
Godbless you sister. Amazing site. All glory and honour to Almighty GOD.
Joanne says
I love your website and the beautiful graphics. I am currently working on starting a blog and I was wondering where you get your graphics from.
I am currently reading your post on feminine dressing. It is so refreshing to see women embracing modesty. Thanks for your beautiful website!
Jacqueline says
Joanne,
Oh…the name ‘A Ready Scribe’ is lovely~ like a ready writer’!
I had the young son of a friend at church do the website for me. It took 3 days and was way more involved than I thought it would be 🙂 I will likely have it done over in June or July and change the look, but have no idea how to do it!! Ha ha! Pretty sad, huh?! I am occasionally seeing others doing their own, so it must not be something I have to pay to have done if I can just learn the ropes. If you ever come across a great and less expensive source, I’d love it if you shared it with me 🙂 A blessing and a hug!
Marla Medina says
I so much appreciated this post and the beautiful art that accompanied it. Thank you.
JES says
I love this! This is exactly my sentiment!
Annalyn says
The original Hebrew for meet means that Eve was adequate for, or equal to, Adam. She wasn’t his servant or his subordinate. And the Hebrew for help in “help meet” is ezer, a term meaning that Eve drew on heavenly powers when she supplied their marriage with the spiritual instincts uniquely available to women as a gender gift.
Just as Adam and Eve were equals in the task given them by Father to head up the family of mankind, we are expected to be equal partners with our husbands. Men and women are created to be different- we have different needs. But we also have different purposes, gifts, talents, and methods…. which are all needed.
A happy marriage is based on an equal yoking- where two people of equal wisdom, *strength*, and virtue work in tandem to obtain all that Father has to offer them.
Mrs. Smith says
Fantastic post! So full of wisdom! It was a blessing to read it this morning and I plan for my daughters to read it also. Loved the artwork too!
Sue says
Yes!!!!
Phyllis Sather says
Great article. Thanks for posting it. I tend to forget all the ways the world has compromised what real women look like.
Janet says
The thought of carrying a baby for nine months and then going through the labor of delivery makes most men tremble weak with fear. Then to see her turn around and do it all over again makes most men stand in awe.
Women are strong in different ways then men and anyone that contends that just isn’t observant.
A woman’s body is built and created that way just like a man’s body is built and created to withstand rigors of external labor. They compliment one another.
Sandra says
Encouraging post, thank you.
Amber says
Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you for this great post! It can often be confusing when women (particularly young women) are trying to sort out all of the confusing aspects of feminism vs. Biblical womanhood. I, for one, enjoy working outside doing things that some women would think I’m crazy to do (i.e. – butchering chickens, planting large gardens, running the tractor, etc., etc.). I know that when I am doing these things, I am learning something about self-sufficiency AND I am helping to take the load off of my husband which then frees him up to have more time to do other things like spend time with the kids (he works away from the home all day so time with the children is a precious commodity to him.) I LOVED this post!
Janet R. says
The thought of carrying a baby for nine months and then going through the labor of delivery makes most men tremble weak with fear. Then to see her turn around and do it all over again makes most men stand in awe.
Women are strong in different ways then men and anyone that contends that just isn’t observant.
A woman’s body is built and created that way just like a man’s body is built and created to withstand rigors of external labor. They compliment one another.
Abba12 says
Ever made butter by hand? Kneaded bread by hand? Boiled and then had to beat fudge syrup? I think women’s arm muscles, way back, were stronger than many men’s today!
Anna @ Feminine Adventures says
Such a wonderful post!
The rampant feminism of the 20th century was sort of a pendulum swing from the 19th century view of women as dainty weaklings. As you so beautifully showed, both views are unscriptural.
Thanks for this beautiful inspiration to be strong and noble women of God!
Sarah says
One of the more biblically accurate posts I have seen about our role as women thus far! Thank you. The pictures are great too, usually we see pictures of women sitting around staring off into the distance.
Jenifer Harrod says
This was a great post! The artwork was just devine! Come visit me on the web.
Doug says
As a man reading this, it makes me sad… sad to see just how correct you are and how society today, especially here in America has actually destroyed what a woman should be. They are bombarded with false images of super skinny models wearing little clothing. They are told to be equal in the workplace with men or they aren’t really living correctly. The emphasis on home and family is destroyed because women are told to seek careers instead of raise a family, even when they have children to raise. What women may not understand about all of this is that it actually breeds men to dishonor women and look down upon them. Men today have less respect for women and I think a large part is due to our naturally competitiveness. When women are seeking the same position in the company as men, it creates discontent. Of course there are a lot of reasons, casual sex being pushed as no big deal instead of a Godly role in marriage, clothing that leaves nothing to reveal, etc etc.
I am spreading this article around. Praying that it will wake women up to the fact that God wants you to serve your husband and family first.
Karen says
Great post! It was this verse from Proverbs 31 that encouraged me to exercise my arms more, work harder in and around my home and to launch my small business! Not that I need strong arms for my business, but the Proverbs 31 woman was wise, kind and productive..what a wonderful example for us. As always, your posts are such an encouragement!
Marci Ferrell says
What a beautiful and well written post about what a true biblical woman is – thank you Jacque for sharing this wisdom from your daughter. Thankful she had a beautiful mother who loves the Lord to pass it on down to her.
Colleen G. says
Thank you for encouraging those of us whose husbands would rather have us working along side them outside and doing farm chores instead of staying inside working on our embroidery. I love being a woman but I’m just not victorian era frilly. I had to be able to do quite a lot of the wood hauling for part of one winter as my husband’s back went out. A lady friend of mine loves splitting wood for a workout. Being a godly woman doesn’t always look like fancy dresses and tea parties. Sometimes it looks like flannel and denim because that’s how our husbands want to enjoy our company stacking wood and raking the yard.
Heather Anderson says
A beautiful picture of true womanhood. I am reading the Little House series to my 5 yr. old daughter for the first time (probably my tenth). Caroline is a picture of a strong but feminine woman; submitted to her husband yet oh, so capable.
Nicole says
Love it Jacqueline, thank you for sharing this! I have never thought of these things, and there are lots of things here I can surely improve upon. Thank you for linking up at Workin’ It Mondays and blessing me with your words!
~Nicole
Working Kansas Homemaker
Phallin says
I loved reading this, it is so true! I agree with you Heather Anderson…Caroline was amazing!
Mya Martinez says
Profound and well said! Thank you.
What Joy Is Mine says
Jacqueline….what a fabulous post…so full of encouragement. I’m always blessed by what you post.
Thank you for sharing it at WJIM.
Sharon says
This is so true! Unfortunately, our culture has such strong pulls on opposite ends of what a woman should be. This shows all the more that we should live in a way that pleases God rather than pleasing the culture. We can believe that we are who God says we are and not be concerned with the identity the world would like us to have.
Darby Dugger says
What a beautiful post filled with truth and inspiration! Thank you!
Shanna says
I loved this post. I’ve frequently made similar comments; that the idea of the “delicate woman” (while we ARE to be refined and lady-like) is mostly of 19th century middle and upper-middle-class rather than Biblical origins, and that to be the “lady” presented in many period paintings required the work of a staff of servants, many women themselves, who were underpaid and overworked.
For many 19th and early 20th century women, the ideal of being delicate and not involved in hard and dirty work was just that, an ideal. In other cases it was a well-concealed falsehood, a myth created to preserve the family’s social status. In some cases, 19th century women even went to great lengths to disguise that fact that they actually worked very hard. They were the tireless “smooth-haired wives” that Catherine Clinton writes about in Gone With the Wind- the women who on the outside could appear feminine, but on the inside were made of steel. And certainly there were women of equal merit in the North.
I applaud the fact that Christian women are turning their backs on the masculine “feminist” type of women, but if we insinuate to our daughters that the ultimate “Christian Lady” sits around in a white dress drinking tea out of a china cup or stitching daintily in a snow-white apron, how disappointed and incompetent will they be when they encounter the realities of real life? They may even reject the realities of work as a mother and wife because many of these tasks do not meet their idea of being a “ladylike.”
We have to embrace the Biblical role-model of womanhood. Certainly the Virgin Mary, Elizabeth, Sarah, and many of the other women of the Bible did not sit around in delicate idleness, but did the normal, mundane, often dirty jobs expected of a wife and mother of their day (or helping their maids do these tasks.)
I really applaud Jacqueline for writing this article.
Heather says
Thank-you Jacqueline’s daughter! Excellent read, with lovely paintings!
I posted to my F.B.
H.R.
Kate says
EXCELLENT post!! And a great exhortation for us to be women of strength…I love, love, love those pictures!!! Thanks for linking this up.
Niki at For Journey's Sake says
This is beautiful! Thank you for your words of wisdom!
Katie@simplefoody says
Beautiful post. Your daughter is very wise.
Anna says
Thank you! The struggle to find the word “sturdy” as it refers to a hardworking woman has finally ended! I coach gymnastics, and as a former athlete myself, I always feel it imperative to impart upon the girls I teach, from 6-18 years old, the hardiness and strength they’re gaining from the obstacles, challenges, and slow fights of living a good and Godly life. As the word “fierce” surged in popularity a few years ago, I heard it championed among my friends and younger girls as an anthem of independence–ironically, this “fierceness” they advocated was one of not needing a man to please them. I always thought it could have meant something a little more wholesome, and a whole lot more interesting! Your word sturdy helps me. How great to teach young girls–and women of all ages alike–that strength is inherent in our beings! Both physical and spiritual strength, and that being a strong, sturdy helper and mate is a gift to the men and families in our lives. We were built strong, benefit from building strength, and help others become strong by building them up. Femininity is in our bones, built right in next to strength. God knew what he was doing when He made it possible to be both, and at the same time! Thank you for the word “sturdy” and the image that is conjured up of who we should each become by that word. God bless!
Anna
Jacqueline says
You are welcome, Anna 🙂 I love your words, “Femininity is in our bones, built right in next to strength. God knew what he was doing when He made it possible to be both, and at the same time!” It is beautiful to be a woman and even more so to be a woman of God!
I’m so glad it was helpful, and I will tell my daughter who actually wrote it 🙂
Blessings in Jesus!
Lady Virtue says
I know this is an older post, but still, it’s excellent! Not sure how I missed it.
Indeed, God does endow us women with strength–for our feminine tasks and responsibilities. He enables us to undergo the custom of women, be with child for 40 weeks and then be delivered of that child (sometimes through hard travail), he gives us wisdom to rear our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord under the headship of our husbands, and so on. He gives us the ability to make a soft, cozy home for our husbands to come home to after a long day of labor.
There’s still housework to be done, of course, but a lot of things are automated now, in this post-industrial revolution era. I think that’s a large part of why sturdy womanhood has declined, along with feminism.