Monday, September 21, 2009

A class on marriage (I am at BYU)

"A Vindication of the Rights of Woman" lecture. What impressed me the most in the lecture “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman” is that Mary Wollstonecraft wanted women to get married. The lecture was opened up perfect for me. When I think of the word feminist I typically imagine outraged women marching down hitting anyone who stands in their way with their equal rights posters. Opening the class with the proper definition of feminist opened my mind to another aspect of feminist; the reasonable aspect.
After reviewing the quotes about women becoming educated, and their husbands supporting their wives I could not help but to relate it all back to tennis. After years of playing tennis you learn to accept the fact that you play as well as your opponent. If your opponent can not return your serve then you get sloppy in your serve, because why waste the energy. On the other hand when your opponent returns your serve every single time you change what you are doing. Instead of serving outside you try to hit the top corner as hard as you can. It is simply impossible to play your absolute hardest if the person on the other side of the net can not hit the ball back to you. Now take the side of the weaker player; frustrated, overwhelmed, and unpracticed.
I am not trying to turn marriage to an aggressive game. Rather it is a comparison in my mind that both parties have to be able to play at the same level. In a marriage you both have to work your hardest so that you can help each other to improve. My point is not to say that stupid people should marry stupid people, and smart people should only marry smart people. It is the principle that by practicing tennis before you go to a tennis match you will be better prepare you for the game. The parallel is that by learning to work with other people and practicing healthy relationship skills before marriage will help both husband and wife to preformed to the best of their abilities.