I'm No Damsel

A few weeks ago I heard something that I can't stop thinking about.  It had to do with females being the weaker sex which I usually get very fired up about.  I like to think that we are completely equal and can do things just as well as men.  The verse in the Bible that says for wives to be submissive to their husbands gets taken out of context so often and this is what starts the fire in me.  Some people think that this means women should have no voice, do whatever the male sex tells them and basically be human doormats.  I tend to disagree with this.

Over the last few years we have had some role reversals in our house and it's caused a little bit of conflict.  It's very hard for me to be the primary breadwinner, wife and mother. At the same time it's hard for Munchkie's Daddy to stay home, taking care of Munchkie, doing dinner and picking up some cleaning/laundry. I'm learning that maybe there is something about this difference between males and females.  I don't think that it means we as females have to be damsels in distress, but we are created differently.  Somewhere recently this is what someone told me, and it makes a lot of sense.  They asked me what I do when I walk alone at night in a parking lot.  I of course answered that I look all around me and try to be aware of my surroundings.  Then they asked Munchkie's Daddy what he does when he walks alone at night in a parking lot.  He answered, nothing, he just walks to his car.  I found this pretty interesting.  No matter how hard we try to be strong and self sufficient we are still vulnerable.  The person who told us this example said that women are the weaker sex, we cannot change this, but it doesn't mean we have to be a doormat.  It just means that we live our lives differently and experience situations differently.

As the vulnerable and weaker sex I realize that I really do want someone to take care of me and protect me.  I guess if I was to add to the example, I would want to have my husband walk with me in the parking lot.  If he walked with me, I would still look around me, but not feel my heart racing because there is someone there to protect me and fight with me.  This is what it means to me to be the weaker sex.  I now understand that I am not necessarily a damsel in distress by being a vulnerable female, but I am a female who doesn't like to feel the pressure of holding the family together on my shoulders.  
Yes, I can be the breadwinner, wife and mother, but I will still check behind me in a parking lot.  It doesn't make me a weak person, it just makes me a female.