Texts: Psalm 81; Luke 10: 38-43

Saima lived on the outskirts of Lahore, the second largest city in Pakistan. Once the capital of an undivided Punjab, it is considered a center of Muslim heritage with its beautiful gardens and mosques. But it is also a city of incredible poverty, a place where women are expected to bear their husbands' sons -- though, don’t you ever wonder, if all women had sons, there would be no daughters for them to marry. But, be that as it may, Saima had the misfortune to bear her husband two daughters.

Distraught over her mother-in-law’s advice to take a back seat to a second wife, Saima went to a meeting of Kashf -- the name means “miracle. Kashf is a women’s solidarity group and microfinance organization and it loaned Saima $65 which she used to buy beads and cloth to create beautiful embroidery. She sold her crafts in the market and began earning money. But more than money she earned; she earned the respect of her mother-in-law and her husband. She has been able to send her daughters to school, no small feat in a country where girls are usually illiterate. Saima was no longer confined to the kitchen and the bedroom; she gained personal freedom in her sphere.

As most of us over 50 know, attitudes towards women and their so-called “place” have changed a great deal within our adult lifetimes. I daresay that many younger women take these changes for granted, which they should not. There are forces in our society that would put us all back in the kitchen with Martha -- and I don’t mean Martha Stewart. Those forces are insidious, often using a narrow view of Scripture to justify a narrow view of women’s equality. And, what’s most insidious, is that many of the most outspoken and media attracting spokespersons are women.

This past week’s issue of Newsweek looked at the rise of conservative women, many of whom are definitely not in the kitchen. But much of the philosophy they espouse would put the rest of us back there. When people, especially women, have a delimited view of their opportunities in life, they are unable to reach their full potential. One may ask, "how does a delimited view express itself in American society?" After all, we’ve come a long way since girls were limited to softball and field hockey. Girls play in soccer leagues just like boys do and there are even women’s professional basketball teams, but there are differences in expectations. And, don’t get me wrong; I’m not denying that there biological differences between the sexes; we should ask the question how those biological differences become instruments of sex stereotyping.

Look at how the media portray girls and their roles. Being a grandmother of two young girls, I am sometimes subjected to their television fare. On the Disney channel, for instance, there are several so-called sitcoms that present girls competing for the same guy, that focus on how girls should dress to be attractive to boys, and present a subtle message that girls are nothing without boys. Sometimes there is a nerd who is “helped” by a nice attractive boy or girl but the point of the so-called help is to make the nerd, well, more like them. Adults rarely appear in these sitcoms.

Equality, full equality, for women is still lacking. Historically, when women become the majority in a profession, it suffers monetarily or is derided as “women’s work,” only slightly better than Martha’s work in the kitchen. For example, teachers who are mostly women earn far less than administrators, mostly men.

Although limited by his time, Jesus recognized that a woman’s intellect was just as important as her ability to cook a dinner. Jesus confronts and is confronted by women throughout the Gospels, whether it’s the woman at the well being told that she needs to shape up her life or the Syrophoenician woman who forces Jesus to broaden his vision. The early Christian communities had women in leadership positions which were lost to male power as the church became more institutionalized. Theology and tradition each played its part in shaping ecclesiastical attitudes towards women. Indeed, our Catholic sisters have just been told by the U.S. Bishops Conference that their demands to be ordained are as sinful as male priests molesting young boys. Can you believe?

A good deal of Christian theological history regarding women has been wrapped up in issues of sexuality not to mention the dynamics of male/female relationships. May of the new so-called women conservatives are not much different than the women who wielded power in the past in that they want to maintain equality for the few and to deny it for the many. What concerns me is that they are tapping into a well of anger, despair, and frustration with many changes that have occurred in our American society.

Those of us who want not just what is euphemistically called “equality of opportunity” in our society but to create a level playing field where everyone has the opportunity to aspire, achieve, and even fail need to wake up and act on what we say our beliefs are. For some of us that means writing a letter, for others being part of mentoring programs, and yet for others getting into the midst of the fray. Otherwise, we’ll all be Marthas back in our kitchens. Amen.