Legislature should alter bathroom, minimum wage bills

The 30-day special session of the Texas Legislature is under way and some of the topics up for consideration are to put it mildly – controversial.
Chief among them is Senate Bill 6, more commonly known as the bathroom bill. The bill, which Republicans call privacy protection and Democrats call discrimination, arose last year when the Obama administration set a rule saying schools and other public places must allow people to use the restroom that correlates to the gender they identify with.
The purpose of the rule was to allow transgendered people the protection to use the restroom of their choice, typically one that is opposite of their biological gender. The Trump administration has done away with the rule, effectively making it a non-issue. Yet Texas, North Carolina and a few other states have pushed forward with legislation requiring people to use the restroom of the biological gender. North Carolina was quick to get a law passed and the fallout was immediate. Many entertainers and collegiate and professional sports organizations, along with other entities, withdrew their plans to hold events in the state. They claim the state law discriminates against transgendered people.
Those same entities are using the same threats to try and bully Texas out of passing a similar law. I can’t help but feel that is a form of reverse discrimination, but that’s not the point I’m going to argue here. I think there is a way to pass legislation that protects privacy without discrimination.
First of all, I think the Legislature should drop the bill for now since it is moot with the recall of the federal rule. Since that does not seem likely given the mood of Republican lawmakers, I suggest the bill be altered to focus on behavior rather than people.
I recommend removing any language regarding which gender can enter which restroom and instead criminalize any abhorrent behavior conducted inside a public restroom. Make it a crime for anyone to utilize a public restroom for any lewd, lascivious, licentious, voyeuristic, pornographic, etc., purposes. That way people can’t cry discrimination against transgendered people yet you are still protecting the privacy of individuals.
This cuts to the root of the reason we don’t want mix genders in public restrooms. It’s about behavior and intent. I feel very strongly that men do not belong in women’s restrooms and locker rooms and vice versa. I also acknowledge the complexity of that regarding transgendered people. There are degrees of transgender alteration from those who simply dress to appear as a member of the opposite sex to those who have completely undergone gender change.
I wouldn’t want to share a bathroom with Caitlyn (formerly Bruce) Jenner because he is now physically altered to be a she. Likewise, I wouldn’t want to share a restroom with a drag queen, nor would I want one using the same restroom as my wife and daughter. When it comes to use of restrooms by the transgendered, I think we are all better served by personal discretion and non-confrontation – as we have for generations – than we are to try and discriminate against anyone.
Like I said, the key here is to govern the behavior of anyone, regardless of gender, as it relates to violating the rights of others. If you’ve got a man in the women’s room or a woman in the men’s room for voyeuristic or sexually immoral purposes, that behavior should be criminalized and stopped. If you’ve got a transgendered person in the restroom to use it for its intended purpose and no malicious reason, let them be. There is a reasonable degree of privacy behind the doors of a stall.
Minimum wage
Another bill that will be highly controversial, although highly unlikely to go anywhere, is House Bill 133, filed by our own Ron Reynolds to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. Doubling the minimum wage is a well-intended but misguided attempt to reduce the poverty gap. Although it sounds generous and wonderful to help the working poor by doubling their income, the consequences of such an action are far more detrimental than beneficial.
First of all, the minimum wage was never meant to be a living wage. To treat it as such is to reward mediocrity at the expense of hard work and success. Why should entry-level, unskilled labor be compensated at or near the same rate of someone who received an education and worked their way up, earning raises and promotions? It makes no sense. The idea behind the minimum wage is to create a starting point from which a person is motivated to better themselves, not live mired in a meager, menial existence.
Secondly, it’s bad for jobs and the economy. If the minimum wage is doubled, many businesses will be forced to cut jobs. In my book, having a low-paying job is much better than being unemployed, or worse, being unemployable. The Obama administration already saddled businesses with a massive health insurance tax (better know as the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare) that caused many business owners to have to cut labor costs. By doubling the minimum wage you will force some small companies out of business and many others to further reduce employment expenses (jobs).
When businesses have to pay more in wages, that means they have to charge more for products and services. That leads to inflation. When inflation levels out with increased wages, the poor are back where they started but those of us who didn’t have the benefit of having our salaries doubled are worse off.
I’m not saying we shouldn’t be looking out for the poor. I agree that the minimum wage should be increased, but not doubled. I can see it going up a dollar or maybe two at the most, but not $7.50.
When I started my career 30 years ago, I made just a little over the minimum wage. I had a college degree and my salary was about the same as a first-year teacher. Over the years my income has held reasonably steady with first-year teachers. I worked my way up the ranks from cub reporter to editor, going from a weekly paper to dailies and back to weekly again.
There have been ups and downs in my income but it has basically risen. I now make a lot less than a rookie teacher right out of college, but I’m far above the minimum wage. This proposal would essentially set the minimum wage within striking distance of my current income. I hardly consider that fair at all. Any financial advantage I earned over the course of 30 years of hard work would essentially be wiped out to satiate the whims of uneducated, inexperienced, entitlement-minded upstarts who simply don’t deserve it.
Yes, there are a multitude of examples of the working poor who work hard and can’t get by. I was one of them. You will always have that no matter what you do with the minimum wage. People are always better off when you give them a hand up rather than a handout. Doubling the minimum wage is a handout. A smaller increase is a hand up.
You don’t help people up the ladder by raising the ladder. Don’t reward mediocrity by punishing success. Help people learn, earn and grow. Enable businesses to expand and provide more opportunity. It’s time to look at the bigger picture and not a small piece of the puzzle.

Personal responsibility must be at the forefront of healthcare debate

Is healthcare a basic human right?
Do we even know what healthcare is? Seriously, there are people engaged in very passionate debates and protests who are saying one thing and thinking another. Let’s be clear here, healthcare and health insurance are two very different things yet they are often referred to interchangeably.
For sake of clarity, healthcare is just that, care of one’s health. It’s the ability to go to a doctor or hospital and be treated for injuries and illness. Health insurance is a method for paying for your healthcare.
Not long ago there was a protest held in Houston where people were upset about the Republican plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (better known as Obamacare). They kept demanding their “right” to healthcare. They angrily blamed Republicans for wanting to take away their healthcare. Trust me, no one is taking away their healthcare. There may be changes to funding for healthcare via health insurance, but you have and will always have the right to take care of yourself and to seek medical treatment.
One of the biggest fallacies in the whole healthcare debate is that Americans have a right to health insurance, and thus increased access to healthcare services. It is not a right. Nowhere in the U.S. Constitution or Bill of Rights does it say the government must provide for the health of individual citizens. That right is inherent with each person, not the government.
When the ACA/Obamacare was passed, it forced everyone to obtain health insurance or pay a hefty fine. It faced a Constitutional challenge that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. In a split decision, the court ruled that the ACA was legal, not because it is a right but because it is a TAX. Rather than being insurance for all, it is the largest single tax ever levied against the American people. Rather than being affordable, it has driven the cost of healthcare to levels that many people cannot afford.
The Affordable Care Act should have been more accurately named the Health Insurance Tax. Not only has it pushed access to healthcare further out of reach for more people, its unsustainable funding mechanism has pushed the country trillions of dollars deeper into debt. This is why Republicans are so eager to repeal Obamacare. It’s not because they are mean and waging war on women, minorities and the poor as most Democrats would have you believe; it’s because it is a financial drain on families and the economy.
As a direct result of the ACA, Americans are spending a higher percentage of their income, and state and local governments are spending a higher percentage of their budgets to cover medical expenses. It’s a huge detriment to small businesses that must pay skyrocketing costs to provide that “benefit” to their employees. This is neither reasonable nor sustainable.
I am no expert on healthcare policy or systems, but I do know a sinking ship when I see one and Obamacare has Titanic written all over it. There are no lifeboats on this ship – it’s going down and taking the country with it. We need to abandon ship and scuttle this barge before it causes any more harm.
So the question remains, what do we put in its place? Republicans thought they had the answer, but every idea they have floated has been torpedoed. Our elected officials are so caught up in partisan fisticuffs over healthcare that no one is stopping the bleeding. Honestly, if you would create a nonpartisan committee made up not of politicians but of healthcare experts who could come together in a spirit of cooperation and craft a sustainable solution that can meet the major objectives without bankrupting the country, I think we could get this mess behind us and move on.
We need to get past this notion that we are entitled to health insurance – we are not – and look at things from a perspective of reducing costs and regulating the industry to truly make insurance more accessible and affordable. We need to eliminate the mandate that everyone must be insured. Food, clothing and shelter are more vital than healthcare, but you don’t see the government providing that for its citizens; nor should it.
If the government is going to fund any aspect of healthcare, it should be in preventive care. More resources should be committed to keeping people healthy and out of emergency rooms and hospitals and less money spent paying for preventable health problems. If people are not going to take responsibility for their own health, they have no right to expect the government to do it.
We would do better to subsidize gym memberships and exercise programs and to tax Big Sugar and Big Soda to the degree we do tobacco. That income could help pay for the exercise subsidies and also treatment of obesity related illnesses such as diabetes and heart disease.
Education is a key component. No one is teaching people what and how they should eat. We learn more about dining from McDonalds than we do from nutritionists. Does anyone see a problem with that? Basic nutrition and core home economics should be a requirement in public education. Basic life skills are no longer being passed down from parent to child because we have new generations of parents who never learned it. Schools don’t teach it. The result is rampant obesity and a growing addiction to fast foods, convenience store snacks and giant sugary drinks.
Learning those lessons is where people can take ownership of their healthcare, reduce costs and live fuller and more productive lives. Take responsibility for yourself and then you don’t have to worry about Uncle Sam having to do it later.

Get ready to Engage life in Fort Bend County

Let’s have some fun, shall we?
Seriously, what is there to do for fun in and around Fort Bend County?
We’ve only lived here since Christmas of 2008 and I can’t help but feel my family has not fully experienced all the interesting things there are to do here. This is a big, diverse county and it has many things of interest and many more hidden gems awaiting discovery. There are the obvious things to experience like the many museums, shopping areas, theaters, the Sugar Land Skeeters, Brazos Bend State Park and George Ranch Historical Park to name a few. There are annual events and celebrations, such as the Fort Bend County Fair and various holiday activities. Yet I can’t help but wonder, what else is there?
Here we are in the height of summer where the heat and humidity are pushing triple digits and most people would just as soon hide indoors in the cool of their air conditioners. I want to get out and explore. I want to experience life. I want to make things, do things and share what I’ve learned with you, our readers.
This is my challenge and your opportunity: Help us (me, my family and/or my staff) experience your part of Fort Bend County and in return we will give you a story and photos in print and online. I’m going to call this feature Engage. The idea is it has to be something you can engage in. It has to be experiential. This isn’t a feature for shopping; it’s a feature for adventure and discovery.
Let me give you an example. Say you have a putt-putt golf course or a go-kart racetrack. Invite us to try it (bonus points if we can bring family along to show the family-friendly aspects) and we will write about it and take pictures for publication in the Fort Bend Star. Those stories are also posted to our website and on social media. They will be available for you to use as you best see fit.
Do you have an art studio? Teach us to paint or sculpt. How about a shooting range? Teach us to shoot. Do you have a skydiving business? Teach us to jump. Do you have a game room, ropes course, zip line, paintball or laser tag course? Teach us to play.
It could also be something health related like cryotherapy, yoga or sensory depravation tanks.
We get the experience and you get the exposure. Our readers get the benefit of discovering something new or re-discovering things they’ve overlooked or ignored for years.
We would love to tour museums, see plays, fly in unique aircraft, hunt, fish, hike, bike, kayak or canoe, ride horses, go boating, take batting practice, etc. There is so much life in our little corner of the world that people want and need to know about.
The benefit to the businesses, beyond regional exposure, is a demonstration of the effectiveness of newspaper advertising. Print is not dead. Far from it, we are still here and very viable. Our reach is much greater than most digital gurus give us credit for. Not only is print permanent, but we also offer all the online benefits of the World Wide Web.
We feel confident that once you see and experience the value of being in our paper that you will want the continued exposure that only the Fort Bend Star can give you. This really is a win-win proposition for your business, our readers and us. It’s a chance to showcase everything wonderful about life in Fort Bend County and beyond.
There is also a more subtle benefit to Engage. I want people in our community to put down their phones, TV remotes and game controllers and get out and experience real life. We have a huge problem with attention deficits and obesity. We need to learn to play again and my sincere hope is that this feature will inspire people to get out and engage in real life. We need people to quit being spectators and to become participants in life. I hope Engage will show you how to do that locally.
We only get once shot at life and you can miss it if your face is stuck in front of a screen. There is an old saying that nobody on their deathbed regrets not spending more time at work. The same can be said for social media and computer games. Get off your Wii and discover the value of “we” as you adventure into the real world and make memories with your loved ones. Instead of playing fantasy football, get outside and play football.
Our world and Fort Bend County in particular have so much to offer. Don’t waste it. Make the most of your opportunities.
If you have a business or service that you would like to have featured in Engage, please contact me at jsouthern@fortbendstar.com or editor@fortbendstar.com.

50 years
I want to take a moment to give a big shout-out to my in-laws, Joe and Jerry Snyder. On Friday they celebrated 50 years of marriage. That’s an incredible milestone on their journey to forever after together. Not only did they raise two exceedingly wonderful daughters (I’m partial to the eldest), but they have continued a multi-generational legacy of faith and character that now extends two generations beyond them. They are loving, generous and faithful. They are shining examples of what marriage, commitment and personal integrity ought to be.
Congratulations, Grammy and Pop! May you have many more wonderful years and joyous celebrations to come.

Coconut water is a natural, healthy alternative to sodas and sports drinks

Have you gotten on the coconut water bandwagon yet?
You should. The sooner the better, too.
My journey to the coconut side began about a month ago when I went to the library and checked out the audio book “High-Hanging Fruit: Build Something Great by Going Where No One Else Will” by Mark Rampolla.
Based on the title, I thought it would be a motivational book about reaching higher and striving harder for great things. To a certain degree it is about that. What the book really is, however, is the story of how Rampolla founded Vico Coconut Water and started a trend in the beverage industry.
The story itself is pretty engaging and inspiring although it does get weighed down with long, drawn out details at times. Nonetheless, it piqued my curiosity to give coconut water a try. At first I was hesitant because before listening to the book I didn’t know there was a difference between coconut water and coconut milk. I know coconut milk to be nasty tasting and is a diuretic. Coconut water, however, comes from young, green coconuts and is very healthy for you. It’s kind of an acquired taste but it is far better than the milk.
I found a container of Vico at Kroger and gave it a try. It is refreshing and has a sweet, nutty taste to it. It also lacks the diuretic properties the water acquires as it ages into milk. It didn’t take long to convert me into a coconut water fan. Its benefits far, far outweigh the other beverage alternatives out there.
First of all, it’s 100 percent natural. It comes straight from the coconut and is not manufactured in a production plant. There are no additives, preservatives or sweeteners. Most of the ones you find in stores are organic and come from reliable sources, most often in Southeast Asia and South America. Growing coconuts is good for the environment and harvesting the water creates jobs in Third World countries without taking jobs from here where coconut palm trees are not as plentiful.
Secondly, the water is not only refreshing but it is high in potassium and contains most of the health benefits found in sports drinks. The sports drinks are not natural, by the way. A typical 16-ounce carton of coconut water is low-carb and has about 80 calories. That’s about half or less than what you would get in a similar sized soft drink and you don’t consume all the sugar and chemicals that are crammed into your can of soda.
Coconut water is best consumed cold and usually after exercise to help your body replenish lost nutrients and electrolytes. You don’t have to work out to drink coconut water. It’s good anytime you would normally down a soda or sports drink. This is the perfect, natural alternative for those of us wanting something safer and better than soft drinks, but want more than a bottle of water.

During my vacation to the Caribbean a couple weeks ago, I was fortunate enough on our shore excursions to find locals selling fresh coconuts. For $5 they would hack off the end of one and pop in a straw. After we finished drinking them, they cut the coconuts open so we could scoop out the fleshy insides to eat. The young coconut has a rubbery texture and lacks the strong flavor of regular coconut but it also lacks a lot of the oils and fats found in the mature variety.
The big drawback to coconut water right now is cost and availability. The markets are strongest on the east and west coasts where Vico and its rival Vita Coco have aggressively marketed it to the trendy yoga studio types. It’s harder but not impossible to find here. It is usually located in ethnic sections of the grocery stores. A carton or bottle of coconut water will cost about $2-3, which isn’t bad but more than you would pay for a soda. To me it’s worth the price, especially given all the information coming out about how bad sodas and artificial sweeteners are for us.
You can find varieties of coconut water with different fruit flavorings. Buyer beware, however, that when you consume those you are no longer drinking a pure, natural product. It’s still better than sodas, but some ingredients are artificial.
I think as the market grows and we see people become more health conscious that coconut water will increase in availability and drop in price. I look forward to that day, but until then I will continue to drink coconut water whenever I can get it.
Please don’t take my word about this. Try it for yourself. Do research on it if you like. I think you’ll ultimately draw the same conclusions I have. Admittedly, coconut water isn’t for everyone. Most of my family dislikes the taste. It does, however, grow on you. It’s kind of like learning to like the taste of black coffee or yogurt. They seem bitter at first but eventually you learn to like and crave them. Coconut water is much sweeter and easier for the palate to adjust to and it’s easy to digest.
I think if you give it a try you’ll be joining me on this bandwagon. Please, if you do try it, let me know what you think. I’d like to hear from you or maybe join you for a drink.

Cruise offered the journey of a lifetime on many levels

Let me tell you about my summer vacation.
As cliché as it is, I just returned from one of the most incredible experiences of my life. It was just a seven-day Caribbean cruise but what was packed into it on multiple levels was astounding. Beyond the food, entertainment and tropical ports of call were multiple examples of commitment, quality and dedication that had a profound impact on me.
I think one of the biggest things I will always remember about the cruise was its purpose. My in-laws, Joe and Jerry Snyder, are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. They paid to have their whole family together for the celebration. There were 12 of us in all, half being my family. We were also celebrating my wife’s graduation from grad school, our niece’s seventh birthday, Father’s Day and whatever else we could think of.
The Snyders are an amazing couple. They have been an incredible source of strength, inspiration and support in the 17 years I’ve been married to their eldest daughter, Sandy. They are some of the most godly, giving and caring people I know and their example of marriage and Christian living sets a very high bar for my family. Originally from Texas, they moved to Oregon and Colorado where they had careers in information technology and finance. Right after Sandy and I tied the knot, they moved to Orlando, Fla., to become missionaries with Wycliffe Bible Translators and are now retired.
Sandy’s sister, Susan, married Brandon Moore, who is an Army chaplain and a man of impeccable character. They and their two little ones were recently stationed in Hawaii.
Being with this family of faith has been inspiring on many levels. I feel honored and very humbled to be a part of it. Having all 12 of us together for the first time ever made my heart swell with joy and pride all week. (My daughter lives with her mother back in Colorado and rarely gets to spend time with Sandy’s side of the family and had never met our niece.)
The celebrations took place June 17-24 aboard Norwegian Cruise Line’s Escape on a voyage that took us to St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Tortola in the British Virgin Islands and Nassau in the Bahamas. Just going on a Caribbean cruise is a lifelong dream I never would have imagined I’d get to cross off my bucket list. Going with this incredible family pushed the whole experience over the top.
Another thing that made the experience memorable was the remarkable crew. More than 70 nationalities were represented among the 1,500 crewmembers and every one of them shined as models of professionalism and courtesy. They said the average crewmember works 70 hours a week, yet they were always impeccably dressed, always smiling and paid great attention to detail and passenger comfort and safety.
One of the people who really stood out to me was a guy from the Philippines named Rowan, who we all called the Washy-Washy Guy. He was one of the people who greeted guests at the Garden Café, which was the main buffet restaurant where we ate most of our meals. To ward off spreading diseases, hand sanitation was highly encouraged and his job was to spray sanitizer on people’s hands. It was a very lowly position, but he owned it.
He made up a Washy-Washy song that he sang at each meal as guests came in. His melodious voice sings in my head every time I wash my hands now. Rowan was always smiling and eager to visit with people. He made the act of going to eat a pleasant and memorable experience. I’ve got a lot of respect for someone who can do that with a menial and unpleasant job like that.
Then there is Mario, our junior cabin steward. He is from Nicaragua and is probably in his 50s. His job was to clean our cabins and make our beds. Again, it was a thankless task and the average person would easily overlook him as a hired servant. Not us. He was very much like family. Heather, my daughter, practiced speaking Spanish with him and they engaged in many long discussions about language, family and life in general. He rolled towels into little animals that he left on our beds each night when he came to turn down the sheets.
Mario was so efficient at his job that it would have been easy to overlook him. He is quick and quiet and hard to notice. Throughout the course of the week, he got to know us and we got to know him. I honestly think our lives are a little bit richer because we he was in it.
Those two gentlemen are just examples of the way the whole crew were. Crew morale was a priority for the company and it genuinely reflected in the way they treated the guests. I can think of many companies that could learn a lot about hospitality and customer service from Norwegian.
Interestingly enough, I’ve come this far in my vacation story and haven’t said much at all about the vacation part. The food was plentiful and incredible – some of the best I’ve ever had. The entertainment was straight off Broadway. The pools were small but the water slides and the ropes course were huge thrills. The waters were colors that even the best photographs couldn’t begin to capture. We went snorkeling and shopping and sipped water from fresh coconuts. We saw panoramic views and vibrant fauna and flora that were breathtaking.
All of it made the perfect backdrop for the time spent relaxing with family. I felt like God was smiling on us the whole week. It was such an incredible blessing. I can only hope that someday 33 years from now Sandy and I can do the same for our children and grandchildren. What an adventure that will be.

Impact of Promise Keepers still being felt, or is it?

I wore an old Promise Keepers polo shirt to church a couple weeks ago.
That got a friend and me reminiscing about some of our experiences attending the conferences back in the ’90s. They were powerful, moving and deeply spiritual events that changed our lives. Promise Keepers impacted the lives of millions of people, not just the men who attended.
As Gary and I talked, my mind began to race back to the summer of 1996. While Gary talked about attending Promise Keepers (or PK for short) in Los Angeles with his son and how it changed their relationship, I felt myself drawn back to Denver. I had just moved back in with my parents after my first marriage fell apart in North Carolina.
My mother gave my brother and me tickets to the conference they were holding at old Mile High Stadium. I had only heard of Promise Keepers and knew nothing about it other than it was some religious organization started by former University of Colorado football coach Bill McCartney. Honestly, I was more interested in being back in the stadium and seeing McCartney than I was about hearing any message.
We got to the stadium and instinctively went to the seats my dad had as a Broncos season ticket holder. Why we didn’t try to get better seats than our old nose bleed seats I’ll never know. It just felt right. What happened over the course of the evening and the next day didn’t feel nearly as comfortable. It rocked my world. I wasn’t ready for what happened. I heard messages about being a good husband and father. I heard about racial reconciliation. I heard about being bold for Jesus. I heard more than my broken heart could handle.
I was in a state of shock for a few weeks while I tried to process everything. God hates divorce, yet I had just been dumped by my wife of nearly nine years. I was blindsided by it and deeply wounded. Clearly this was a message designed to teach me how to be a better man, save my marriage and restore my family. It just had to be. There was no other logic to it.
For the next three years I lived a contradiction. As I delved deeper into the men’s ministry and became more ingrained into the movement, my wife was pushing further away. I tried hard to change who I was and to live as a Godly man, but within three years it was over. Fortunately, it helped prepare me for my new life with my lovely wife and four children.
I snapped back from my thoughts when Gary asked me if I had gone to Stand In The Gap, the gathering of a million men on the Mall in Washington, D.C. Yeah, I was there. Right in the thick of it. Oct. 4, 1997, was one of the most memorable days of my life. It also marked the peak of Promise Keepers. After that, events that drew 60,000, 70,000 or more men to football stadiums dwindled to 20,000 to 30,000 men in basketball arenas. A few years later it became gatherings of hundreds in large churches, which is pretty much where it stands today.
Bill McCartney, who had become a friend, left the organization to care for his ill wife. Since her passing, he has been sidelined by Alzheimer’s disease. The impact he made and the legacy he will leave are undeniable and eternal. Even if the movement is just a crawl, it still forever changed the course of this country and more importantly, individual family trees for generations to come. I continually run into friends and strangers whose lives were turned around by Promise Keepers.
Yet I can’t help but wonder what has happened to this country since PK’s decline. Where we once had a strong voice calling men to be the courageous leaders God designed them to be we now have … man buns, rompers and lace shorts? Are you kidding me? Instead of strong, confident leaders, we have safe places and gender identity issues.
Where have all the real men gone? Is there no man of integrity left to stand up and lead?
I can’t help but think that we have pushed so hard for gender equality that we have not stopped to consider the consequences. Don’t get me wrong, I am all for equality in the workplace. We must, however, accept that men and women are not equal. We are not automatons that can be inserted seamlessly into any role in society. We are very different beings and therein lies our strength. Whether you believe in creation or evolution, the simple fact remains that men and women are different creatures mentally, emotionally and physically.
As women moved into the workplace, it seems no one bothered to ask who would be filling in the void at home. Women just assumed that men would step aside and share the load equally.
They just forgot to ask the men. Instead, men have been shamed and browbeaten into roles for which we were not designed. Men are internally engineered to slay dragons, win the heart of a woman and lead his kingdom. (A man’s home is his castle, right?) Women are wired to raise and nurture children and be the caretakers of the family.
Now, before the feminists start looking for rope to hang me with, please hear me out. I’m talking in terms of historical generalities. These are the roles that have defined men and women for thousands of years. The mass migration of women into the workplace is a relatively new phenomenon of less than 60 years.
My point is that while women have been stepping up and leading, men have taken to cowering in their “safe place” romper rooms. That was not supposed to happen. I’m all for men helping out and doing their fair share around the house, but the feminization of men is just plain wrong. Men need to be men and women need to stop expecting them to be anything less than that.
Of course this is a perception of Promise Keepers that feminists resisted throughout its run. They errantly believed that PK was teaching men to be domineering rulers and that’s simply not the case. PK was teaching us to be servant leaders in the home. They were teaching us to love and care for our wives and children and to take responsibility for the family. Unfortunately, as Promise Keepers becomes less influential, we see more men abdicating responsibility rather than embracing it. We need to reverse this trend. It’s going to take some work to figure out how best to balance work and home life for both men and women but it can and should be done without changing who we are intrinsically.
In the meantime, I will keep wearing my Promise Keepers polos and shunning man buns and rompers.