Be content

Be content with what you have;
rejoice in the way things are.
When you realize there is nothing lacking,
the whole world belongs to you.

Lao Tze

Woman is the Nigger of the World

Church always makes me very emotional. Today there was a sharing of struggles with body image. One woman after another shared their testimonies: so powerful, honest, heartbreaking. You could sense the solidarity of all women then. One said it well: women today are in bondage, internalizing pressures to be perfect. This drive turn strong, capable women into weak, anxiety-ridden girls. It makes women consumed with envy, insecurity, loathing and turns them against one another. We speak of women's lack of rights in developing countries, how it amounts to half of a population enslaved. But American women are enslaved as well, by outside forces that are explicit and implicit, that daily bombard us in all manners.

I think of the John Lennon song: Woman is the Nigger of the World

Woman is the nigger of the world
Yes she is...think about it
Woman is the nigger of the world
Think about it...do something about it

We make her paint her face and dance
If she won’t be slave, we say that she don’t love us
If she’s real, we say she’s trying to be a man
While putting her down we pretend that she is above us

Woman is the nigger of the world...yes she is
If you don’t belive me take a look to the one you’re with
Woman is the slaves of the slaves
Ah yeah...better screem about it

We make her bear and raise our children
And then we leave her flat for being a fat old mother then
We tell her home is the only place she would be
Then we complain that she’s too unworldly to be our friend

Woman is the nigger of the world...yes she is
If you don’t belive me take a look to the one you’re with
Woman is the slaves of the slaves
Yeah (think about it)

We insult her everyday on TV
And wonder why she has no guts or confidence
When she’s young we kill her will to be free
While telling her not to be so smart we put her down for being so dumb

Woman is the nigger of the world...yes she is
If you don’t belive me take a look to the one you’re with
Woman is the slaves of the slaves
Yes she is...if you belive me, you better screem about it.

We make her paint her face and dance
We make her paint her face and dance
We make her paint her face and dance

I don't know if individuals alone can relieve themselves from a lifetime of painted faces. Do we need divine intervention to be transformed?

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Romans 12:1-2