One of my anthropology professors at Wheaton, Brian Howell, has an essay in E-Quality, a journal from the Christians for Biblical Equality. Dr. Howell discusses how the discipline of anthropology can provide important insight for Christians when it comes to gender.
Many generalizations about gender exist in our culture and church (I've talked about this several times before!). For example, "men have medieval battle fantasies or that all women crave more foot wear." We mistakenly believe that many things that make us "masculine" or "feminine" are driven by biology, rather than culture. The work of anthropologists shatters this belief. Dr. Howell points out a characteristic of Indonesian culture:
Indonesian families do not trust men with money. Men are too easily swayed by their emotions, they say. Men are full of passion and behave erratically. Women are more stable, better able to think rationally and handle money or business transactions. In this case, it would be the women of the church who are more likely to sit on the finance committee. Perhaps men would be selected for arranging the entertainment at the church’s anniversary celebration.
The whole essay is here: Beyond Damsels and White Steeds.
Excellent quote. I think I'll make a mention of this essay on my blog at some point here. Thanks!
Posted by: David W. Congdon | July 05, 2008 at 01:47 PM