Falwell Shows Patriarchy’s True Colors

It takes much these days to pull the Observational Ginger out of hibernation. A years-long menage-a-trois between powerful evangelical leaders and a 20-year-old kid just might do it, though. I had dropped into Reuters for my daily pandemic briefing when allegations of Jerry Falwell Jr.’s voyeuristic arrangement with a business partner slapped me across my unsuspecting face. I was accosted with...

Breaking my silence on the New Year’s assaults on women in Europe.

I titled this “breaking my silence” not because I kept silent about this on purpose. I just never got around to it. After reflection, I regret not getting around to it, so I’m going to say something now, three months later. Everyone probably remembers the New Year’s attacks on women in Europe that took the news cycle by storm. These attacks raised a big concern: that some refugees who...

What everyone missed in Partridge’s yoga pants post.

I’m already tired of what I have deemed The Yoga Pants Kerfuffle of 2015. I bet you didn’t know yoga pants could kerfuffle, but they’ve caused quite a stir. Or, rather, one Christian blogger’s decision not to wear them has caused a stir. Veronica Partridge made internet headlines when she announced her conviction to ditch yoga pants in order to prevent lust in men. Many writers and...

Is Egalitarianism Prescriptive or Descriptive, Part 2

Yesterday, we established that there’s nothing inherently wrong with an egalitarian couple choosing a more “traditional” arrangement for their roles in the family. Egalitarian men can make more money than their wives. Egalitarian women can cook and clean with the best of them. If a couple functions well that way, who’s to stop them? Why, then, do egalitarians like myself tend to actively...

Is Egalitarianism Prescriptive or Descriptive?

In all our discussions of egalitarianism vs. complementarianism here at Observational Ginger, very important questions occasionally arise from readers. My oldest childhood friend inspired today’s topic with a question she asked long ago. My answer then was dreadfully inadequate, and since it’s a common question anyway, I thought I’d take a blog post to soothe everyone’s curiosity. (With...