I don't think I can view anything as just being a male problem or just being a female problem any longer. And that thinking needs to stop. Aside from the obvious biological differences between men and women, we aren't all that different. Sure, in some situations, we might think a little bit differently, but we are all human. We are all made in the image of God. And sure, we all may have different roles, but we do not have different problems. We all want to blame someone else for our problems. We all want to blame one gender or the other for the reason that we have problems, but let me tell you — both genders fell in the Garden of Eden. The knowledge of good and evil may not have come upon Adam and Eve until Adam ate, but they both ate. And then they both tried to blame it on the other.
"This woman you gave to me, she ate." The blame goes to Eve. Ultimately, the blame is placed on God, but that is not necessarily the point of this article. (Genesis 3).
Let's look at it this way. What do people assume about men? Everyone seems to assume that men are more likely to cheat, more likely to be so sexually minded that they won't value women, more likely to be brutal and abusers, more likely to struggle with addictions with pornography, more likely to hurt others, more likely to lack feelings and sentimentality. Everyone assumes that men are supposed to be strong and mighty. Everyone assumes that men are the brutes and the ones to be blamed for everything that goes wrong in the world or in a woman's life.
Now, let's flip it. What do people assume about women? Everyone seems to assume that women are more likely to be emotional wrecks, more likely to have mental disorders like depression and anxiety, more likely to self-harm, more likely to be faithful and not cheat, more likely to have the cleaner, less sexually driven mind, more likely to have all of the feelings in the world. Women are thought of as the sentimental ones, the caretakers, the ones who would never abuse or hurt anyone, the victims of everything, and yet sometimes they are viewed as being sluts because of certain ways that they might dress.
Who gets blamed for the problems of women? The men.
Who gets blamed for the problems of men? The women.
Let me flip all of this on its head for you. These assumptions should not be the case. Women are just as capable of abusing as men are. Women are just as capable of cheating as men are. Women deal with pornography just as much as men do.
Men are just as likely to struggle with depression and anxiety as women are. Men are just as likely to struggle with self-harm as women are. Men are just as likely to be sentimental, emotional wrecks as women are.
These problems with the world are not gender specific. There is no gender specific mental disorder. There is no gender specific addiction. There is no gender specific sin. It is all part of the human condition. Men and women alike sin against God. Adam and Eve both ate of the tree that God commanded them not to. Men and women alike struggle with the same problems, the same disorders, the same addictions. Are there gender roles that need to be met? Yes. Otherwise, families would have no order or organization. Someone has to work in order to earn money for a family. Someone has to stay at home and take care of the children. Someone has to be more nurturing than the other. I don't care which gender that falls upon in any given family circumstance. That doesn't matter.
What matters is that God created us all, male and female, in His own image. And we all, male and female, sinned. And now we ALL, male and female, deal with that sin. We all have the same problems. It's the human condition. And there is only one cure for that human condition. It is only by grace that we can be saved, through faith (given to us by the Holy Spirit) through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, so that we are incapable of boasting about the salvation given to us.
