Boys and Girls are Different

Part 1 of Homeschooling Daughters

Long ago, no one balked at the idea that boys and girls were different.  No one made faces or called you names if you treated them differently.  But, as every good feminist will point out, many women were opressed, beaten, and treated as chattle.  While I won't deny that there were definitely those that were treated this way, I would contend that most women were not.  Most women were taken care of by their menfolk.  Most women fulfilled their household duties in a happy home.  I honestly do not think you can give sufficient data to prove they were any less happy than the typical woman of today.  In fact, I would venture to guess they were happier!

These same feminists will have you believe that fulfilling household duties is opression in and of itself.  Men having to toil to make a living for the family is not oppression, but women toiling to make a house a home apparently is.  For some reason, the idea of men and women taking on differing, yet equally important roles, is an offense to many, many people these days.  In fact, many feminists have stooped to calling names of those who do embrace their femininity.  I have been called everything from a doormat to backward because I stay at home with my children and I love my role as wife and mother.  I also apparently have not a single brain cell in my head or else I would not willingly do this.  No one in their right mind would choose to stay at home, would they?

Name calling aside, do these people who are crying equal opportunity have a leg to stand on?  No.  They are creating more problems than they are solving.  Our men have become emasculated.  Our boys do not know what true manhod is all about.  And our daughters can't find a man worthy of marriage.  But, staunch feminists would prefer it this way.  Weak men are an important asset.  It is much easier to "get ahead" when you don't have to compete with these menfolk.  Feminists are not looking for true equal opportunities.  They don't want women to rise to the same level as men.  They want women to BE men.  They want an Amazon-type culture where women are at the top and men are their subjects.  Equality really has nothing to do with it.

So, why do I bring all this up in a series that is supposed to be on homeschooling our daughters?  If I am going to make the assumption that we should homeschool our daughters differently than we homeschool our sons, then I have to start with the premise that daughters are somehow different from sons.  In some realms, this is heresy.  But, rather than hide behind sugar-coated words, I've chosen to lay it all out on the table from the beginning.

Face it, folks...boys and girls are different!  Some would have you believe this is a bad thing, but personally, I am thrilled that I am not a man, as I'm sure my husband is thrilled he is not a woman!  God made us unique.  It is okay.  Accept it!  Embrace it!  It is a beautiful thing!

Once we finally accept that our daughters are different from our sons, we can stop worrying about making all their schoolwork the same.  We can stop pigeon-holing all our children.  We find the freedom to look at our children with an objective eye, see their giftings, and run with them down that unique path.  We can look at who they are now and begin to see who they will become eventually.  It is exciting to read God's Word and find within that context concrete examples of the gifts we are already seeing in our children only on a grown-up level. 

The Bible give use a clear distinction between men and women, but nowhere do I read of a woman's role being that of oppression.  However, I see definitive examples of women trying to BE men, only to bring an entire people group under judgement.  Yes, you can pull the "Deborah Card", but be aware that the men had abdicated their role and there was still a price that came with having Deborah as a judge.  The Lord made a point.  It is not that Deborah was not a capable woman, she absolutely was.  Just as it is not about whether or not I can do a better job than Joe Schmoe in the workplace.  The question is...should I be doing his job? 

In short, men don't make very good women and women don't make very good men.  It is awfully tough to get past all that makes us women and try to suggest that we can be men.  Why not embrace the fact that we were born women?  Why not be delighted that we are different and have a differing role than the men?  Why not relish the fact that we can do things men cannot like give birth, nurse a baby, cook a meal with every dish making it to the table at the same time. 

And with this, why not really take a good look at our daughters?  Find out what makes them tick.  See how their gifts fit into their role as a woman.  Hone those skills as you train them up in the way they should go.  Teach them to love being a woman!