I had decided not to comment on this, but I can’t very well refuse a tag from Cathy. 🙃
I think the main point of Grace’s question was answered ably enough, so I’m going to focus on what you spoke of, Cathy: what differentiates men and women
First off, and I’m sure you believe this but I always find it prudent to mention it, the bible defines the two sexes (or genders if one prefers the word). In the beginning, he created them male and female (Genesis 1:27 I believe). Thus, there is clearly two sexes, no more, no less, and as the bible further expounds on, each sex has its own roles. Not only does the bible teach this, but God teaches us it directly through nature (observing mammals for instance).
Now, the question comes, what makes males and females different? Several things, the simplest of which is science (anatomy and reproduction), and requires no further expounding on (unless one is has lost their mind like half our country right now xD). However, it seemed to me that you (Cathy) were focusing more on emotional and behavioral facets of humankind that differentiate males and females. In regard to that, I would say the most important thing to understand is that most of these differentiations are believed due to inductive reasoning (i.e, generalizations). For instance, the claim that women are more emotional, soft, and trusting, may often be true, but it is not strictly true, and is not a true difference between men and women. However, suffice it to, due to the way God designed men and women’s bodies, hormones, and brains, many of the generalizations are, well, generally somewhat accurate.
I would say that the main differentiation that the bible (and thus God) gives men and women, are their roles. For instance, men were command to be leaders and provide for the home, women were commanded to tend the home and be industrious (tangent: I hate the stigma that claims the phrase ‘tend the home’ puts women in a boring, subservient place of caring for children and sweeping floors. That couldn’t be further from the truth). There is more to say on this, but I’ll stop there.
Finally, I would like to comment on the whole ‘men holding a door open for women’ thing. While men should be helpers and protectors of women, and be willing to sacrifice for them, I think that this mindset often causes people to miss the point. Women should be helpers and sacrifice their desire or time (or seat for that matter) as much as the next person. We are all commanded to help others and put others first, regardless of their sex.
Hopefully that made a modicum of sense.
How’s your life going?
