It’s Tough Being a Woman

The question was posed yesterday on the Living Proof Ministries blog, “What are the three hardest things about being a woman?” There were over 400 responses! Here’s my answer:

1. Hormones. From puberty to menopause, this biological roller coaster ride can really make life tough! When perimenopause hit me last year, I was crying EVERY day (often for no good reason) and experiencing hot flashes. I felt like I was losing control of both my mind and my body.

2. Submission. I take the Bible’s admonition to submit to my husband quite seriously and have finally gotten to the point where it is second nature to let him be the one who is “wearing the pants” in our family. However, that doesn’t mean that it is always easy. There are times when I really struggle with wanting to usurp his authority in our home. When that happens, I find myself angry and upset with him and with myself. Occasionally, I even get angry with God for telling me to submit in the first place. The end result is a lot of frustration and feeling like I am not only a bad wife, but also a bad Christian.

3. Forming substantial friendships with other women. More than once, I’ve been burned by women (Christian and non-Christian alike) who I thought were my friends but were not. They gossiped, lied, and betrayed me. It is difficult for me to trust any woman and open up to her after having my feelings trampled on like that.

In glancing through the responses, hormones and all of their related baggage (PMS, pregnancy, menopause) were probably the most-cited. Submission was another biggie, as was the pressure to be thin/beautiful/sexy. At least one woman cited having to do/be so many different things that she fears she is not doing/being anything well. (I also experience this fear at times when I am feeling particularly overwhelmed.)

So, yes, we do have it tough. But for a bit of perspective, consider the following excerpt from Priscilla Shirer’s A Jewel in His Crown: Rediscovering Your Value as a Woman of Excellence:

“I think that as women of the King, we should glory in our existence as the fairer sex…. How much He must have loved us to give us intricately designed bodies that can bring forth life. We should thank God for that. How much He must have loved us to give us bodies that were created to sustain the very lives that we bring forth into the world. We should praise Him for that. How much He must have loved us to give us the intuition that only women have, the power to influence that only women have, and the emotional structure to give and receive love like that of no other creature on earth. We should be amazed that the Father would do all these things for us; we should thank Him and realize how glorious our position really is. The God of the universe saw that man, His greatest creation yet, still needed help. He gave him a glorious gift… you and me!”

It is tough being a woman, but I wouldn’t want to be anything else.