Monday, April 6, 2009

Quiverfull Part II

So, I am now almost done Quiverfull, and an interesting point has struck me.
This movement of male domination within churches actually started to draw men back to church. The various Christian evangelical movements needed men in the pews, so they used the Bible to give men what they wanted, an almost porn senario, where your wife can never say no to anything you do and must constantly do anything you say. You have free access to everything, her mind and her body, and you get to control it all.
That kind of domination being offered within these churches will attact a certain kind of man, one who is prone to abusing women. When the women are then abused at home, they are abused by their church, who tells them what their abuser told them, it's all their fault they are being hit/raped/or otherwise injured. It is a circle of abuse that surrounds these women.
Then they have children, and then children are abused. The girls are raised to accept abusive behavior as normal and accepted. The boys are taught that it is expected that they take charge of their families in anyway possible. Instead of just one family doing this though, it is whole churches, and they are raising many many children to perpetuate this system.
The women in this system are dehumanized. They are reduced to a vagina. They are only there to give birth as many times as possible and to submit to their husband.
Interestingly, the language used within these churches is exactly the same as language used is DS/SM porn. It is the same system, just one admits what it is and the other hides behind God. As much as these people want to scream that they are not like the secular world, they have managed to recreate porn quite handily.
Sometimes women do get out of this system, just like sometimes women get out of abusive marriages in general. The difference with the Quiverfull women is that they have no friends. None. Their friend is their husband, it is considered a sin to have any other friends. So she literally does it by herself if she leaves. She will most likely have to leave her children behind. And it is a terrible idea for a mother, even one that is beaten down.
My heart goes out to these women. I actually read the book in small sections, I can't just gulp it down, because it breaks my heart. The interviews with the women part of this movement are awful.
I can not recommend this book enough, just to open your eyes as to how bad this movement has gotten, and what it is doing to thousands of women. Dogs are treated better than they are.

2 comments:

  1. (1) you are on my blogroll, but you come up as content warning and it doesn't update. not sure why, can't fix it.

    which sucks, because i love your blog.

    (2) on topic, these women break my heart. i don't have many real life friends. i'm always sick and i can't do anything, so it's hard to maintain a real life friendship, but i have lots of online friends, and i don't know what i would do without them.

    even people like you are friends to me, though that may seem pathetic. i can't imagine a world in which i was expected to do all that by myself, and even feeling tired is a sin.

    i raised my niece for 7 years, and there were times that it was completely overwhelming. one child. more than once, i locked myself in the bathroom and screamed, or cried, and sometimes, like after an entire night spent awake, holding her while she vomited, i thought "i cannot do this anymore".

    i did, but i had help from family. these women have nothing.

    and i treat my dog WAY better than that. hell, i hope the hindus are right, because if i'm good enough, i can come back as my dog.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Woo hoo! I rate a content warning! Hee.
    I think every parent locks themselves in the bathroom and cries. I know I do it sometimes, and so has every mom I've ever talked to. It's freaking hard work.
    I know that the daughters are supposed to help with the babies, but come on! The mom is still expected to do everything, no matter how much help the daughters are. It's a terrible situation they are put into.
    Have you read No Longer Quivering at...
    http://2spb.blogspot.com/
    Two women who got out of the Quiverfull movement. Their stories are astounding.

    ReplyDelete

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