GIRL POWER
/NOTE: This post is part one of what I'm hoping to be a series addressing an issue that is heart-breaking and urgent.
WOULD YOU HIRE THIS GIRL? Let's say you run a coffeehouse and need a good barista: would you hire her? Need a babysitter for your kids? You're a principle needing a middle school social studies teacher?
Does she look motivated? Directionless? Visionary? Self-disciplined? Would you assume she is well-socialized--"the process beginning during childhood by which individuals acquire the values, habits, and attitudes of a society"?
We have five Grand-Girls. I want them to know that I am on their side! For many years, I worked in youth ministry. It has been one of the great joys of my life to advocate for teens, especially girls. I'm not sure why; but I think it has something to do with the church tradition I was raised in. By doctrine and dogma, this church tradition has diminished the role of women in the church, in the family and in society. In my personal experience though, that stomp-your-foot-down-and-slap-your-King-James_Bible hard line was blurry. It was a message that played better at a pastor's conference or preach-off than in the real world. The church Fathers talked a tough game about the secondary and tertiary role of church mothers and sisters, but I think deep down they knew (and refused to acknowledge), the local church would have faltered faster had it not been for women.
According to recent studies and much conjecturing, young people, especially girls, are suffering: increased depression, hopelessness and at least--sadness. It's not just the church or politics, or the unfortunate, illegitimate marriage of the two. But what is it? The current favorites (depending on your news source) include: social media, smartphones, the recent pandemic (being isolated at home), "wokeness", the breakdown of the nuclear family. Even poor old Donald Trump and his championing of misogony has made the list.
I'm not trying to point a finger. That's a tough thing to do these days. My old digits are so twisted by arthritis (both real and idealogical) that often, when I'm pointing at one thing, people assume I'm pointing at another. I'm interested in solutions. I don't know that I have any, but that's where my interests and my heart, lie. So...
Back in my early days of youth ministry, I thought I could rescue every troubled teen. I got some wise guidance from a couple of people. One was my mom. She told me, "There's no such thing as a troubled teen, just a teen with troubles." The other told me to accept my limitations. "You can only do so much, but do that the best you can."
In that spirit: here goes...
First, I need to remember that Jesus loved young people and he loved women, all women. His own mother was probably fourteen when he was conceived. She is one of five women listed in the story of Jesus' beginning. Matthew in his gospel records this group:
Mary, the mother of Jesus. Of course she deserves to be listed, but these other four? I wonder if there was ever a time when the Disciples were gathered around the campfire waiting for the fish to cook, that maybe Jesus asked Matthew, “Hey, Matt, I get why you mentioned my mom and maybe Ruth; but Tamar, Rahab The Prostitute, and Bathsheba?!”
Of course he never asked Matthew about that. My guess is that Jesus was not at all embarrassed to have listed in his public record women like Tamar, who pretended to be a hooker so she could trick her father-in-law in to having sex with her, or Rahab The Prostitute, a real prostitute, or Bathsheba (mentioned only as the wife of her husband) who had an adulterous affair with the king (David) and then the king had her husband moved to the front line of the war so that he would surely be killed.
Isn't it strange how we want to sterilize The Story, making it less human? Creating a false reality is always dishonest, whether it misappropriating scripture or pretending that the personas, the guises of social media are real and must be attained.
I love the inquisitiveness of youth. It's essential to healthy growth. It can also be frustrating and scary. Let's not discourage it. They want to dig deep. Let's not breed cynicism by being dishonest with them.
It's in the asking of questions like: Why?! When?! Why not?! that the journey begins. Maslow would say we all need a place that's safe and secure to ask those questions and start the exploration. But more on that in the next installment.
Oh; that girl in the picture? That's Susan Kare. She did this (from the Wikipedia entry on Susan):
Susan Kare (born February 5, 1954) is an American artist and graphic designer best known for her interface elements and typeface contributions to the first Apple Macintosh from 1983 to 1986. She was employee #10 and Creative Director at NeXT, the company formed by Steve Jobs after he left Apple in 1985. She was a design consultant for Microsoft, IBM, Sony Pictures, and Facebook, Pinterest and she is now an employee of Niantic Labs. As an early pioneer of pixel art and of the graphical computer interface, she has been celebrated as one of the most significant technologists of the modern world.
Susan Kare is considered a pioneer of pixel art and of the graphical user interface, having spent three decades of her career "at the apex of human-machine interaction".
In co-creating the original Macintosh computer and documentation, she drove the visual language for Apple's pioneering graphical computing. Her most recognizable and enduring works at Apple include the world's first proportionally spaced digital font family of the Chicago, Geneva, and Monaco typefaces, and countless icons and interface components such as the Lasso, the Grabber, and the Paint Bucket. Chicago is the most prominent user-interface typeface seen in classic Mac OS interfaces from System 1 in 1984 to Mac OS 9 in 1999, and in the first four generations of the iPod interface. This cumulative work was key in making the Macintosh one of the most successful and foundational computing platforms of all time. Descendants of her groundbreaking 1980s work at Apple are universally seen throughout computing and in print.
I've included Susan's story to celebrate the life and work of youth, especially young women. Honestly celebrating real work and worth is affirming; for all of us. It's out there everywhere. Look for it. Acknowledge it. Embrace it.
