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What’s the difference between men and women? Here are some of the things that were suggested on the BBC website a while ago:
Women suggested:
• Women have the ‘Oh dear, the toilet paper is on its last sheet; must
replace it immediately’ gene. This is entirely absent in men who have
the ‘Oh dear! Can you pass me a toilet roll, love?’ gene!
• Men can balance an infinite amount of rubbish in the bin, without noticing it is full.
• Women are missing the parking a car in between two straight white lines in an empty car park gene.
• Men have an anorak gene, which triggers a lecture on thermo dynamics
when asked a simple question requiring a yes or no answer
• Women can smell old trainers at 100ft; men have to hold them to their nose.
Men suggested:
• For men, 2am is time for sleep. For women, 2am is time for a discussion about where our relationship is going.
• When men want something they ask for it. When women want something
they make a point distantly related to the subject and wait for a
response.
• Men need a round of applause for emptying the dishwasher. Women think ‘E’ on the petrol gauge means enough.
• Women pee together. Men do not acknowledge, let alone speak to each other while peeing.
• Women have a gene that enables them to remember every outfit they
have worn for the last two decades. Men can’t remember what they wore
yesterday without looking at the floor next to the bed.
Do you agree with any of these?! I’d like to pick up on the references
to housework in those statements because I think one of the differences
is the amount of time that each sex spends on housework, particularly
when they are married. I read about a study recently that said that a
man who gets married gains five years more free time than a man who is
single, because the married man’s wife will do all the housework for
him. I have no idea how accurate that study is or how they worked it
out, but something about it rings true…
This book starts with the statement ‘The first
family in the Bible was dysfunctional’ and it then goes on to show how
the story of Cain and Abel has a major influence on things that happen
throughout the Old and New Testaments. It shows clearly how the people
of God have been set free numerous times only to go back into slavery
again because of their disobedience.
The thing I most liked about this book is that it builds from one narrative passage to another and shows how the different stories impact each other. It is a clear book to follow and very easy to read; having said that it also deals with some very interesting theological issues in a clear and concise way. Bell shows how the way that Paul writes picks up themes from the Exodus written about in the Old Testament and looks at their relevance to us today.
It is not a book that you would want to dip in and out of, as one chapter leads very clearly into the next and gives the big picture events of the Bible.
He finishes with the story of the Last Supper and the Resurrection and asks what did Jesus actually mean when he said ‘Do this in remembrance of me’? What was the ‘this’ he was referring too. Bell suggests that it might be ‘opening ourselves up to the mystery of resurrection, open for the liberation of others, allowing our bodies to be broken and our blood to be poured, discovering our Eucharist. Listening. And going’!
A book that I would highly recommend to new and mature Christians as I believe there is something in it for everyone. You will need to come to it with an open mind and heart to be ready for what God is going to do in you.
Reviewed by Sharon Prior, trainer and lecturer in youth and children’s ministry
Vicky Tuck, head of Cheltenham Ladies College, claimed this week that
girls' education is sacrificed in order to help struggling teenage
boys. Speaking at the annual conference of the Girls' School
Association, she said that girls are being used to improve their male
classmates' education and are losing out on a focused women-only school
life, according to this report.
"What happens at boys' schools is there may be falling rolls, or their
results may not be as good as they might like. They think they can
solve that by widening the catchment and taking in girls. Girls are
regarded as more diligent and they will pull up exam results and they
assume the boys will respond and it will be a wake-up call for them."
The GSA website has interesting articles on why they believe girls are short-changed by the co-educational system, and how girls schools do things differently. Some of that could be really useful if you run single-sex groups or want to be more aware of how gender issues could be sabotaging your mixed youth work. But having identified some of the challenges inherent in educating girls and boys together, I'm not convinced that the answer is to educate them completey separately. I went to an all-girls secondary school, and I don't think it was a great preparation for the reality of living and working with men for the rest of my life. Of course, I wouldn't want to see boys or girls lose out from being educated together, but I'd like to see good examples of how co-ed schools are addressing some of these gender issues and finding ways of helping both girls and boys reach their full potential together. What do you think?
The Global Gender Gap Report 2008 reveals that Norway is the country
that has been most successful in closing the equality gap between men
and women. The UK comes 13th having dropped two places in the last
year, and Ireland is up one place in 8th. The report is published by
the World Economic Forum and comments on 130 countries which cover 92%
of the world's population. It measures the size of the gender gap in
four critical areas of inequality between men and women, looking at how
countries share resources and opportunities between their male and
female population:
1) Economic participation and opportunity – outcomes on salaries, participation levels and access to high-skilled employment
2) Educational attainment – outcomes on access to basic and higher-level education
3) Political empowerment – outcomes on representation in decision-making structures
4) Health and survival – outcomes on life expectancy and sex ratio
More than two-thirds of countries have improved their ranking, showing that overall the world has made progress towards gender equality. You can read the report here.
Britain's only specialist police trafficking unit is to close after just two years because of a lack of funding, according to this report.
Last week six traffickers, pimps and brothel keepers were convicted,
thanks to this unit, for their role in trafficking and exploiting a
16-year-old Slovakian girl who was forced into prostitution. She tells
her story here.
This week the unit is closed - where's the logic in that? You can find
out more about human trafficking and how you can get involved in
campaigning against it from Stop the Traffik.
Sexual bullying in schools is so rife it is hardly noticed according to a fascinating article in today's Guardian.
Girls routinely get called slags, slappers, sluts and bitches, often by
each other. But then with role models like Chris Moyles, who has
referred to a female news presenter as a slut and Victoria Beckham as a
whore on air, perhaps it's not surprising. In the article, Damian
Carnell who works for the Nottinghamshire Domestic Violence Forum talks
about instances of sexual bullying that affect youth workers as well as
young people. 'One incident in a school we work in involved a boy who
grabbed hold of a girl in the school corridor and gave her a love bite.
Female youth workers talk about situations in which boys play chatline
messages to them from their mobile phones, point porn images at them
from their phones or draw porn images on paper that they've just been
looking at
on the computer, even in the school library. So this is sexual bullying
or harassment of staff as well as pupils.' Have you experienced
anything like this? And how did you respond?
The article highlights the work of Tender, an educational charity in London that uses creative arts to challenge violence in relationships. Their website is well worth a look, and they've produced a card game to highlight the issues with young people. Womankind Worldwide have also created resources to challenge sexual bullying in schools as part of their 'Challenging Violence, Changing Lives' programme.
photo: Maxeen
Sharon Prior caught up with Yasmin in Cambridge where she is studying for her PhD.
When did you first get involved in youth work and how has your interest developed since then?
When I was 17 years old I was involved as a junior leader in my local
church. Then at 20 went to study at Cliff College. After college I went
to work with West Cambridge Christian Youth Ministries, and then I
became a youth worker at a church in Ely in Cambridgeshire. My
Methodist-minister husband and I then moved to Downham Market and set
up a detached youth work project in partnership with the Town Council.
I worked as a detached youth worker for the 6-month pilot and then
managed the first year of the project and two new workers. When I was
in Ely I decided to study for a PhD.
What is your PhD about and how is it going?
At College I loved biblical studies, particularly New Testament. I
decided to research the resurrection passage in the Gospel of John
because I was interested in how John told Mary Magdalene’s story. Since
then things have moved slightly in that I’m focussing on the burial
passage in John, particularly John 19:42,
to try to understand how it might inform our reading of the
resurrection. I have an interesting time travelling with my work, I’m a
Sheffield University student, I work day-to-day at the University
Library in Cambridge and my supervisor has recently moved back to
Norway, so I meet up wither in Oslo for supervisions!
It has been very hard to juggle a job and study and so I decided to give up my job and concentrate just on the study. Since then I have also had a little boy and so my research was on hold for a while. However, I am getting back to it now and hope to finish the study in the next 2 years. Fortunately I get a lot of support from my husband and so I’m feeling positive!
When I started the PhD I thought God might be moving me on from youth work, but He obviously has different ideas and I am still getting opportunities to be involved in it. I am also doing some lectures to youth work students now and really enjoying it.
The Sophia Network exists to empower and equip women in leadership, and to champion the full equality of women and men in the church.The network is for all women who are in positions of leadership, who aspire to be leaders or who believe that women can be leaders.
Registered charity: 1128538'A powerful, compelling, practical and timely call for us to embrace the biblical vision for gender equality.'
Dave Westlake, Integral Mission Director, Tearfund
Find out more and order a copy here
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