switching sides
Sep. 9th, 2013 09:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
deird1I feel like I've lost my single-chick cred.
There are a few zillion conversations out there in the Christian blogosphere, in which single women complain (rightfully) about the church's focus on married couples to the exclusion of any acknowledgment of single people.
This is an area I have opinions on. Quite firm opinions, really, with a fair amount of experience behind them. After all, until I was 28 I was extremely single and expecting to remain so. I am, to a large extent, invested in the single-woman-in-the-church thing in a way I'm not invested in the married-woman-in-the-church thing. And probably will be for quite a while.
But now, I keep seeing all those blog posts about single people in the church and feeling like, if I say anything, everyone will roll their eyes and say "You don't know what you're talking about. You're married."
And somehow I've completely lost my ability to speak on this issue that I care about and know about, because suddenly I'm categorised as someone who can only speak on that other issue that I don't care much about, don't know much about, and will perpetually be seen as underqualified on because I got married so late (compared to my peers) that clearly I have nothing useful to say...
*sighs*
There are a few zillion conversations out there in the Christian blogosphere, in which single women complain (rightfully) about the church's focus on married couples to the exclusion of any acknowledgment of single people.
This is an area I have opinions on. Quite firm opinions, really, with a fair amount of experience behind them. After all, until I was 28 I was extremely single and expecting to remain so. I am, to a large extent, invested in the single-woman-in-the-church thing in a way I'm not invested in the married-woman-in-the-church thing. And probably will be for quite a while.
But now, I keep seeing all those blog posts about single people in the church and feeling like, if I say anything, everyone will roll their eyes and say "You don't know what you're talking about. You're married."
And somehow I've completely lost my ability to speak on this issue that I care about and know about, because suddenly I'm categorised as someone who can only speak on that other issue that I don't care much about, don't know much about, and will perpetually be seen as underqualified on because I got married so late (compared to my peers) that clearly I have nothing useful to say...
*sighs*
no subject
Date: 2013-09-09 05:29 pm (UTC)And you can't speak on single womens' issues is like saying you can't speak on girls' issues. It's true that, as the years go on, you will likely become more removed from what contemporary single women are facing. But that doesn't mean your experiences are invalid. Also, it's not like you'll suddenly be entirely unable to see single women and how they interact with the group at all.
I really dislike the idea that no one can think or speak about a group at all except someone who belongs to the group. It ends up being another way of silencing the concerns of everyone not part of the majority group. The way the world is, if we don't get rich white dudes to think and talk about our problems, they're not gonna get talked about in the broader cultural discourse. It's another way of relegating people to different spheres; and "separate but equal" has never worked.