The Virtuous Woman

These insights are taken from Elizabeth Dreyer's recent book, Making Sense of God: A Woman's Perspective, and her chapter, "The Virtuous Woman."

 

Generosity

"Women are conditioned in overt and subtke ways to place generosity at the heart of what it means to be a "good wife," "a good mother," "a good colleague," "a good friend."  To suggest to a woman that she is selfish is usually received as a serious insult.  The deeper, more probing question about being generous is this: Are we choosing this behavior in freedom?" 

She believes, "On the surface, pseudo-generosity appears to be in the interest of the receiver, but at its heart, it is not."

She observes that although motivations for generosity may be mixed, in the end, unless there is a "growing sense of freedom, the end result is guaranteed to be anger and resentment."

Courage/Risk

She notes that in tradition, women who are recognized for their courage are often given a male identity.  "Women are socially conditioned to be peacemakers and yet prophets almost always create trouble."  She notes, "Whatever it takes for women to embrace their full humanity--which for Christians is living out the truth that we are made in God's image and likeness--requires courage and risk.  One size does not fit all."

Humility

Humility she says, is the fruit of openness to God's generous love and mystery.  To be humble is to be free of pretense, to be able to forgive and be forgiven, to have oneself in perspective in order to resist exaggeration of either one's gifts or one's faults." 

She says, "Too often, women are other women's worst enemies."  We are threatened by women who are different than us, or in competition with us. "

Like generosity, she notes there is a pseudo-humility.  "The media bombards women with messages that they are not smart enough, strong enough, logical enough, or moral enough to compete in a male-dominated world."

Comments

[Maria]

Looks like an interesting book -- I like her insight about generosity linked to freedom. It's easy to give in a way that is meant to control, and I don't know any woman who doesn't struggle with anger and resentment at times.