What is a Woman?

What was once widely accepted as simple truth, has now come into question. What exactly is a woman? I mean, if our newest member of the Supreme Court can not answer such a seemingly simple question, what hope is there for the rest of us?

Gone are the days when women’s rights were enshrined to protect women — those carrying the XX chromosme — now we have been given the example of a “highly educated” woman whose only response to the question, “What is a woman” was the stunningly absurd, “I can’t answer that; I’m not a biologist.”

Alrighty then! I will put this woman (though I’m also not a biologist I can say with certainty that Justice Jackson is, indeed, a woman!) on the top of my list of people to pray for. She is made in the image and likeness of God and I believe she can change her mind on this one. God’s law is written on her heart, just like the rest of us, and so let’s pray for clarity and that the truth breaks through.

It must be said, though, that it appears from such a silly answer that there are some huge gaps in higher education — and these gaps may seriously affect women and their ability to be treated fairly in law and in society moving forward.

It’s a dangerous and irresponsible response on so many levels, and there will be many losers if we don’t stand against it.

Gone will be the days of only women — those carrying the XX chromosome — being eligible for Title IX funding for women’s sports. If XY Chromosome carrying males can apply and beat out women for those dollars that should rightly go to women, imagine the loss to those women who worked so hard so they could receive scholarships and pursue an education.

Gone will be the days of women competing against other women in sports — having fair competitions with other XX chromosome women with the same biological advantages and disadvantages — experiencing the joy and satisfaction of finding themselves at the top of their sport.

Gone will be the days of little girls going into bathrooms and knowing they won’t be assaulted by XY chromosome males in skirts.

Oh well, ladies, it was nice while we had equal rights under the law, but there seems to be a strong push to give those rights up for the sake of progress. 🙁

But, before we do, perhaps we should take the cue of the ultra-educated and hear from an actual biologist, shall we?

“There are intrinsic biochemical differences between XX and XY cells that affect tissues and organs across the entire body and have a significant impact independent of sex hormones. And medical practitioners must understand these differences to properly treat their patients.”

Dr. David C. Page, Director of the Whitehead Institute and a Professor of Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Taken from his presentation “Every Cell Has a Sex: X and Y and the Future of Health Care”

This highly qualified biologist makes one thing clear: every single cell is male or female, not just the sex cells and many a Philosopher would argue one step further: that difference goes all the way down to the soul.

As an aside, If a biologist isn’t available in the future, we could always turn to any average 5th grader, for that matter, who learned that a female has an XX chromosome and a male an XY chromosome — or aren’t they teaching science anymore?

Who knew that the old game show “Are you smarter than a fifth grader was actually prophetic!” The answer is “no!”– many highly “educated” men and women are indeed way dumber than a fifth grader and we will all have to suffer for their ignorance.

Beyond biology, though, we know a lot more about what a woman is.

We know that a woman was made in the Image and Likeness of God. A woman is a God-bearer in the world, and in many ways her biology helps us to learn more about WHO God IS and who we are in God’s eyes.

We are precious, unrepeatable miracles — every single one of us, male or female — and our lives matter.

And as much as femaleness and maleness are different, they are meant to be complementary to each other. Men and women together reflect the image and likeness of God in real and profound ways: like creating new life.

The truth is, we need each other. The truth is, we make each other better and the love between husband and wife creates a stable environment for that new life to thrive. What noble work it is to come together and make new life and raise that life and cherish that new life like our own bodies!

It’s beautiful and the most noble work any man or woman can engage in. Forget career or followings: to love is the greatest and most lasting work there is on earth.

As much as femaleness defines women, there is also this beautiful truth that we are all so different, and those differences are real and vitally important in our world.

Look at all the Saints who are all so different in temperaments and personalities, but so alike in their love for God. We need to be willing to be the Saints the world need now, and God is just waiting for our yes!

So let’s say “yes!” and see what beautiful things we will do in the world.

As stated in last week’s post, there must be something pretty darn important about women that the devil doesn’t like — in fact, he’s downright terrified of! Why else would this battle against woman be raging since the prophecy of Genesis 3:15?

So what do we do? Do we give up? Run and Hide? Lose all hope as we see the foundation begin to crumble around us?

Heck no! We fight for what we know to be right. We educate others on the truth of who we are and who we were created to be. We support each other. We love each other! We fast and we pray and we find allies in places we never expected them to be.

I’ve seen these allies in the most unexpected of places. I’ve seen what I know to be true still surprise me over and over again — the law of God is written in each of our hearts — and that is why there is hope for all of us.

I’m going to be praying for our newest Supreme Court nominee and all the rest of the members. I’m going to be praying and fasting for our leaders in the Church to lead, really lead!

I can not explain it, but I have to tell you that I have so much hope for the future. I see the beauty of God’s truth breaking through and I see you and I a part of that truth getting out there. So don’t give up hope.

Pray, hope, and Don’t Worry!

See you next week, please God!