...there is no other hand!
No, not really. I just couldn't resist quoting Tevya. But anyway.
I got to thinking that, although I did state something like this in my previous post, I should make it clear that just because it is a struggle for women to rule over their emotions, irritations, and grumpiness in a way that it isn't a struggle for men does not release them from the responsibility to still rule over their emotions, irritations, and grumpiness.
Let's compare it again to the thing that women have the most trouble understanding about guys: the struggle not to look at a hot woman with lust in their hearts. (And guys, I know you think this is much, much more obvious. But trust me when I say I have never, ever met one woman who knew without being told that this was much of an issue. Because for us, it just isn't. I promise. That doesn't make us holier than you, it just makes our temptations different.)
So a man has a struggle that a woman doesn't usually have--most women are not sexually tempted with their eyes and most do not have a store of mental images that they have to fight against regularly.
Most women do, however, have a store of mental soundbytes--people saying hurtful things or old arguments, mainly--that pop up the same way that a lustful image might for a guy. And we have to fight the temptation to get sad/resentful/worried just as hard as a man has to fight the temptation to dwell on the mental image of the hot chick.
Now of course, this is not to say that men don't have to struggle with being sad, resentful, irritated, and worried and women don't have to struggle with lust. Women do struggle with lust and men do struggle with controlling grumpiness. But to quote a comedian, generally to compare women's struggles with visual lust to men's is to compare throwing a bullet to shooting it. It's the same thing--to compare men's struggles with putting an argument out of their mind to a woman's is to compare throwing a bullet to shooting it.
We still have the same responsibilities. This doesn't in any way give women a pass. But just as it's helpful for a wife to pray for a husband's purity (and to dress modestly enough that she isn't risking anyone else's purity), it's helpful for a husband to pray for a wife's emotional state--and to try to be gentle when he can.
And to reiterate, no, this post and the last aren't because of any particular situation. I just have been thinking about these things lately. I know it sounds like I am doth protesting too much, but I promise. Honestly, you guys can usually see through me in those situations anyway, I think.
Cheers,
Breanna
No, not really. I just couldn't resist quoting Tevya. But anyway.
I got to thinking that, although I did state something like this in my previous post, I should make it clear that just because it is a struggle for women to rule over their emotions, irritations, and grumpiness in a way that it isn't a struggle for men does not release them from the responsibility to still rule over their emotions, irritations, and grumpiness.
Let's compare it again to the thing that women have the most trouble understanding about guys: the struggle not to look at a hot woman with lust in their hearts. (And guys, I know you think this is much, much more obvious. But trust me when I say I have never, ever met one woman who knew without being told that this was much of an issue. Because for us, it just isn't. I promise. That doesn't make us holier than you, it just makes our temptations different.)
So a man has a struggle that a woman doesn't usually have--most women are not sexually tempted with their eyes and most do not have a store of mental images that they have to fight against regularly.
Most women do, however, have a store of mental soundbytes--people saying hurtful things or old arguments, mainly--that pop up the same way that a lustful image might for a guy. And we have to fight the temptation to get sad/resentful/worried just as hard as a man has to fight the temptation to dwell on the mental image of the hot chick.
Now of course, this is not to say that men don't have to struggle with being sad, resentful, irritated, and worried and women don't have to struggle with lust. Women do struggle with lust and men do struggle with controlling grumpiness. But to quote a comedian, generally to compare women's struggles with visual lust to men's is to compare throwing a bullet to shooting it. It's the same thing--to compare men's struggles with putting an argument out of their mind to a woman's is to compare throwing a bullet to shooting it.
We still have the same responsibilities. This doesn't in any way give women a pass. But just as it's helpful for a wife to pray for a husband's purity (and to dress modestly enough that she isn't risking anyone else's purity), it's helpful for a husband to pray for a wife's emotional state--and to try to be gentle when he can.
And to reiterate, no, this post and the last aren't because of any particular situation. I just have been thinking about these things lately. I know it sounds like I am doth protesting too much, but I promise. Honestly, you guys can usually see through me in those situations anyway, I think.
Cheers,
Breanna
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