By JOHN RICHARD SCHROCK
On March 23, 2022, the Taliban in Afghanistan closed girls’ high schools, hours after they had re-opened. Afghan girls will not be able to attend school beyond fifth grade. As a teacher, I am angry that these students are denied any higher education. Yet this is not a black-and-white issue. And while this Taliban action is among the darkest, much of the rest of the world operates in the gray as well. Given equal test scores and measured abilities, “he” will be paid more and promoted higher than “she.”
Complementarianism is a term used in religious philosophy for a view in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam that men have a God-given role to lead. Women’s role is to follow and be supportive, thus having a complementary role. They contend that women are equal but just “functionally different.” This argument underlies why women cannot be priests or imams. Their duties are limited in some evangelical churches.
In contrast, churches that allow equal access to all positions of authority to both men and women are practicing “egalitarianism.” In this case, women are “functionally equal.”
But our suppression of women is society-wide, from lower pay for the same work to less access to positions of power. This goes far beyond religious institutions and is pervasive worldwide. Why?
There are many possible answers for why males were given more stature. Usually family name stays within the male line. In many cultures, sons have the responsibility to support parents and elderly parents more often live with a married son. A girl’s family may need to provide a dowry to the groom’s family; it is a common custom that elevates males.
Because there is already a discrepancy in equal pay, with males paid higher for the same work, this perpetuates undervaluing the work of women. And the nature of some work is seen as an extension of women’s domestic work. Labeling truck driving as men’s work and nursing as women’s work perpetuates the inequality caused by complementarianism. I am glad to see more women driving trucks and more male nurses.
Teachers’ contracts appear to have the same scale for men and women: strictly based on degree-in-hand and years of teaching experience. Yet surveys still find that women teachers make less than men of equal education and experience because when a female teacher moves to a new district, an administrator may tell them that they won’t be hired unless they claim fewer years of experience. They rarely tell that to men teachers.
While I am angry that girls in Afghanistan will get less education, I must recognize that we continue to have our own problems such as these. As Americans we have failed to pass the Equal Rights Amendment, and much of the reluctance is a residual belief that women’s work is not as valuable.
China made considerable progress in 1949 as well. But it still has a way to go. Dynastic China suppressed women and limited their education. Ultimately, many women joined the troops that would start a new China in 1949, eliminating foot-binding, arranged marriages, and providing a new equality—almost. Both men and women keep their family name; but their child will carry the father’s family name. In China, professional retirement for men is 60, but for women it is 55. When I argue with party secretaries that this reduces the female leadership in higher ranks, they point out that women like being grandparents at that age since, many children are raised by grandparents. And they do.
Japan, with an ancient history of elevating men above women, may be making headway beyond Western cultures. In a recent issue of “The Week”, they briefly describe a couple “who couldn’t settle on a common last name—required by Japanese law....” They found a solution by “...agreeing to divorce and remarry every three years so they can take turns using their respective last names.” Indeed they got married in 2016, using his name. In 2019 they divorced and remarried under the wife’s maiden name. This July they will divorce again, continuing the name switching.
While I am angry that Afghan girls do not have a right to an education, I can only hope their country will rapidly evolve away from that severe male dominance. But I also know that in the U.S. there is no federal right to an education—it is not in our Constitution. And what is not in the Constitution is reserved to the states. Unfortunately, some states’ legislatures are wanting to move our education back in history and restore old “values.”
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John Richard Schrock has trained biology teachers for more than 30 years in Kansas. He also has lectured at 27 universities during 20 trips to China. He holds the distinction of “Faculty Emeritus” at Emporia State University.