ANATOMY OF WOMANHOOD

Any complete intelligent talk about the Homo Sapiens and human personality must have an understanding of womanhood. Womanhood should not be lost in (big statement based on very little information) about the Homo sapiens. Though a woman is for instance subject to the judging requirements and responsibilities highlighting the accomplishment of human excellence, she has (like nothing else in the world) demands and roles as well as special conditions and judging requirements for accomplishment of excellence. Our statement for discussion is that it is the acceptance of the permanent and unable to be avoided fact of her womanhood as very well directed that her wasting very little while working or producing something and effectiveness can be brought to completion and resulting in something. This paper tries to explore womanhood from church-related point of view and to give its educational effects.

A view that spreads throughout many cultures is that women make up and be equal to the weaker sex. Many an educated person is not agreed to this clever saying. Opposite from what's expected some educated people believe that women make up/be equal to the stronger sex.

Yet there is a third group that argues that men and women are equal in strength and weakness as their original nature is the same. This third position is a very important one to begin with as it has a Bible-related foundation.

The story of the first woman begins with Eve in the Garden of Eden. The great reality is not that she came from the rib of Adam but that God created her and brought womanly nature into being. The wonderful  and God-related purpose relative to man is found in creation So God created man in his own image, in the image of God ; created he him male and female created he them.

If man and woman are created in the image of One God, then their nature are likely to be the same. This appears logical because God cannot and should not have different natures. God was Original and man was made His Copy. This means that man not only carries and holds the image of God, but is His Image. This is clearly stated in 1 Cor. (11:7):

For a man in fact shouldn't cover his head, for as much as he is the image and glory of God.

The Image of God in which man was created includes what is generally called "Original moral rightness" or more specifically true knowledge, moral rightness and holiness. The bible tells us that God made man "Very good", Gen. 1:31, and "upright" Eccl. 7:29.

At the time Eve was created from the rib of Adam, Adam had the original moral rightness. This suggested that Adam and Eve had the same nature. This original moral rightness was lost by both of them after eating the fruit from the forbidden tree. But the New Testament points shows very specifically the nature of man's original condition where it speaks of man as being renewed in 'Christ; in other words, as being returned to a former condition. The condition, to which man is restored in Christ, is one of true knowledge of God -Col. 3:10, moral rightness, and holiness - Eph. 4:24. These three elements be equal to the original moral rightness, which was lost by sin, but regained in Christ. Man alone did not benefit from this renewal. Woman was also a receiver of money, etc.. This hints that man and woman still have the same nature. Plato (428-348 BC:144) shared almost the same view while fighting for the education of women. He said/argued:

The same education which makes a man a good person who protects another from harm will make woman a good (person who protects another from harm); for their original nature is the same. The self-respect and built-in worth of women is basically, almost completely and definitely equal to the self-respect and built-in worth of men.

Are women the weaker sex? Many an educated person say no! These educated people rather present women as the stronger sex. Looking at the strength of women from the positive dimension gave an opinion:

In times of trials and troubles, it is the woman that a man hangs on to, for support and comfort. The excellence of woman also gets in giving strength to the weak. Many a man enjoying a lot of special treatment, money, and other advantages in life with the company of a strong woman in times of physical, mental or material loss, can prove the beauty of the feminine strength of the woman of excellence. For while the strong large building of the qualities that make a man falls apart, and falls apart or breaks apart into tiny pieces; the woman of excellence springs to life.

She becomes a tower of strength, a shoulder for a man to lean on.

She further argued that in times of tough decisions especially those of (honest and right) or moral nature, it is the woman of excellence who, with a determined (related to religion or the soul) life bent on truth and justice, will act as a sense of right and wrong for a man in (something that makes you want to do something/the feeling of wanting to do something). By their (related to religion or the soul) (gut feeling or deep-down opinion which is their natural gift of money, women can in an obvious, gut-feeling way warn men against dangers.

So, related to religion or the soul strength, intelligence, honest and right aliveness and (gut feeling or deep-down opinion), sensitivity to truth and justice, mostly make up or be equal to the valuable things of Womanhood which make her a stronger sex.

Arene (1990:140) still holding to the stronger sex idea or plan of womanhood but this time from a negative way of seeing things or sensible view of what is and is not important, gave an opinion: Many a dangerous male have gave in to the pressure of a woman of evil to cause to continue evil acts. The English play writers, Saville (1783 - 1953) described the highly penetrating presence and famous and important role of women in the following words:

Women have more strength in their looks than we have in our Laws: and more power by their tears, than we have by our argument.

These suggest that women have a deeply widespread role to play in our lives and community of people. It is therefore being suggested that the strength of womanhood under review is not muscular power and aggressiveness; but constant trying/not going away, patience, beautiful toughness, related to religion or the soul good thing, guidance, quality that gets people to change their minds and agree, determination and rich beauty of the mind which is the true rich beauty and which reflects in outward beauty.

Arene (1990) followed and rightly too that when womanhood takes a different course the effect is usually terrible. For instance, it is known that the sickness of woman could be terrible and destructive; for not only will she ruin or make mentally and socially sick her natural role - functions, but she can drive by her power of persuasion, her man to evil and destruction, and cause the ruin of community of people in the world. The death of Samson through the service business of Delilah as recorded in Judges (16: 4-22) is a case in point. Another typical example is the death of John the Baptist through the ability to serve a purpose or do something of King Herod's wife as recorded in Matthew (14:3-12) and Mark (6; 17-29).

In fact gone are the days when women are thought of as members often the weaker sex on the strength of the false claim of men's (related to the body function of living things) quality of being better than everything else. This view is no longer useful because of the believable information that proves something of very important statistics which have showed and told about the high and rising rate of male death and the low declining rate at which people die among the female sex. This is this way a strong sign of the fact that the female related to the body function of living things resists death longer than the male related to the body function of living things. And if this is true, in what way lies the weakness of the weaker sex? The weaker sex idea is a view that has become out-of-place time-wise, unrelated and unimportant as the history of many cultures are full of women of bravery such as Queen Amina of Zaria and the Amazons of Dahomey. There is also no evidence that was actually seen to show that women have lower Smart Quotient (I.Q.) than men.

It is therefore, that rather than cling to this weaker sex idea, it is better to believe that women are equal in strength and weakness with their male counter-part and should therefore, be given equal treatment and equal opportunity.