A post of a women's Bible study recently went viral on social media, sparking up conversations about gender roles and family dynamics.
A woman recently took to Facebook to share a lengthy message about an activity her women's group participated in. Included with her post was a series of photos showing the women in the group wearing their husband's shoes. The activity was meant to emphasize the differences in the roles of men and women.
"In our ladies bible study, I asked all the women to bring a pair of their husband's shoes to class. When they got there, I asked them to put them on," the woman, whose name was blocked out in a reposted version of the status, wrote on April 15. "We spent the rest of the evening wearing shoes that were, in most cases, way too big for us. We were stumbling around and tripping over them and they were definitely not comfortable. It was really quite comical!"
"We quickly realized that our husbands' shoes are waaaaay too big for us!" she continued. "They are meant for our husbands' feet, not ours,"
"So… why do we insist on wearing them?" the woman asked before asserting that she did not want her husband's responsibilities because she would not be able to handle "the physical or mental stress he deals with."
"And wearing his big old dirty boots was a really good reminder of Their shoes aren't meant to fit us," she said. "The load they have to carry is heavy. They are responsible for our family in ways we will never truly understand."
In closing, the woman encouraged her followers to pray for their husbands instead of trying to assume their God-given responsibilities.
"So let's stop trying to wear our husband's shoes. Instead, let's pray for them, encourage them, and let them be the men that God has called for them to be," she said, using the hashtags #Godswayisthebestway #marriagegoals.
As reported by Church Leaders, the post came under fire on social media, with many users opposing the message.
The Rev. Sarah Locke Shared a screenshot of the post, captioning it "Stop It." Locke's post, which was posted on Twitter on Tuesday, has received over 8,000 retweets, over 7,200 quote tweets, and more than 135,000 likes as of this writing.
Stop this. pic.twitter.com/pfi7CwOCQh
— Rev Sarah (@RevSarahLocke) April 26, 2022
Some users commenting on the Bible study also questioned how the shoe analogy works if the husband's shoe size was the same as his wife's or if his feet were smaller than hers. Meanwhile, others took issue with the post's assumption that men bear a heavier load of responsibilities in life than women.
"Is this why jobs like nursing and daycare, some of the most mentally and physically challenging jobs, are mostly done by women?" one user asked. "Not to mention that many women work while also raising their child and doing housework."
Meanwhile, Facebook user Margie Zumbrun posted her own satirical version of the Bible study activity, where she envisioned a men's Bible study where they try on their wives' bras. At the conclusion of Zumbrun’s post, she included the hashtags #FalseAnalogyIsALogicalFallacy, #ShoeSizeHasNothingToDoWithAnything and #SmashThePatriarchy.
Still, one person with a mixed reception of the original post responded to Locke, writing, "Half agree, half disagree with this. I agree women should encourage their husbands (just as men should encourage their wives), but they shouldn't try to force themselves into their husbands' role (nor a man into his wife's) because both are unique and different in their challenges."
Related:
How Can We Reconcile Differing Opinions on the Role of Women in Church?
What Are Complementarianism and Egalitarianism? What’s the Difference?
Photo courtesy: ©Hermes Rivera/Unsplash
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.
