Howard C. Wilkinson and Peggy O'Reilly - "Women and Liberation" (March 15, 1970) / Duke Chapel Recordings / Duke Digital Repository

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Let us hear and accept

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the insuring words of our Lord,

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who said to a confessing sinner,

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"Be of good cheer,

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your sins are forgiven.

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Go and sin no more."

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And I say to you,

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accept the fact that you are accepted

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by the Father's love.

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That whatever you have done,

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you are free from bondage to your past,

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and from anxiety for your future.

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You're free to live fully in the present.

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You are valued by God's love,

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just as you are.

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Life is good as it is given

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at the Father's hand.

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Your future is open,

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arise from your past,

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pick up your life,

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and walk in joy.

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Hear the word of God,

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and the words of the prophet Isaiah,

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"The spirit of the Lord is upon me

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because the Lord has anointed me

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to bring good tidings to the afflicted.

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He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

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to proclaim liberty to the captives,

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and the opening of the prison

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to those who are bound.

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To proclaim the year of the Lord's favor,

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and the day of vengeance of our God.

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To comfort all who mourn,

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to grant to those who mourn in Zion.

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To give them a garland instead of ashes,

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the oil of gladness instead of mourning,

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the mantle of praise,

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instead of a faint spirit.

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That they may be called

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oaks of righteousness,

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the planning of the Lord

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that He might be glorified.

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They shall build up the ancient ruins.

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They shall raise up the former devastations.

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They shall repair the ruined cities.

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The devastations of many generations."

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Here ends the reading of today's lesson.

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The Lord be with you.

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And with your spirit.

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Let us pray.

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Let us offer unto God

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our prayers of thanksgiving,

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intercession and supplication.

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Lord God who are our Father,

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we praise you for creation,

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and all of its power.

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For the things made in the beginning

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that have not yet come in the spring.

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We praise you for the rebirth

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of green foliage and of color.

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For the ease to the eyes,

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and for the sure restoration

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of what is burned out,

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frozen out, drowned out, and dried out.

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We praise you, oh Lord,

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for the daily power of conceiving life again.

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We praise you for grass to walk in,

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to water, and to wait on.

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And for it's signed to us of your power,

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and your glory in heaven and on earth.

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Lord, Christ rose in the spring,

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make green the sign of spring,

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a healing sign for us.

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Father praise be to you

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for the rhythm of our life.

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We praise you for the beat of sound,

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the beat of the heart,

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the pulse beat of new life,

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and tree, and bird, and flower.

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The beat of drums.

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We praise you for clapping hands,

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tapping toes, snapping fingers,

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and nodding heads.

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We praise you oh Lord our God,

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for the rhythm of seasons,

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for warm noons and the cool nights.

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For the sunset and the sunrise,

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for the new moon and the half moon.

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We praise you our God

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for the rhythm of the cycles of the seasons,

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the cycles of the engines,

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the cycles of the octaves,

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the cycles of the sea,

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and the cycles of the spirit.

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Lord, we praise you for birth and rebirth,

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for man and for woman,

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for childhood and parenthood,

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for life pass and life to come.

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And Christ we thank you

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for the cycle of salvation,

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and for the rhythm of life.

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Let us pray for the whole church of God

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throughout all the world.

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Lord God unite the church

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in our times, we ask.

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Point her to the issues of our lives.

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Raise her eyes,

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wet her lips,

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stir her imagination again,

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raise her temper,

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show her the headlines,

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call her into crisis.

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Lord make thy church's children glad.

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Make her youth zealous,

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make her men brave,

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make her women free,

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make her ministers,

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martyrs for the sake of Christ.

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Make her risk her life

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that she may live again,

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even as Christ laid down His life freely,

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and rose to new life.

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Lord God of mercy,

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and of love, and of healing,

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sinned, we ask your rescuing love

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into the rubble of our lives,

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and of our societies.

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Call forth power and persons

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who are able to save,

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able to free, able to protect,

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and able to give hope to your people.

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Oh God, heighten the hope of the fearful,

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who are lost, and who are hurt.

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Lengthen the hope of the fearful,

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who search and to help,

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and to try to be rescuers and liberators.

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God, our Father,

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lengthen the days and the hours

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for finding and freeing thy people.

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Shorten the hours and the minutes

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for waiting and for suffering, we ask.

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Save the loss,

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receive the dying,

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free the oppressed,

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rescue the hurt,

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comfort the grieving,

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and hear the thankful, we ask.

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Oh spirit of present, past, and future,

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give us, we ask, hope for our tomorrows.

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Give us spring at the end of our winters,

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love at the end of our strife,

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peace at the end of our war,

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and a home at the end of our exile.

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Give us, we ask our Father,

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freedom after imprisonment,

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Canaan after Egypt,

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Easter after Good Friday.

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Give us a new day and a new hope,

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with its new work,

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its new smells.

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It's new touches, its new thoughts,

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its new hopes and its new love.

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Oh God, the Creator of all that is,

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let the world which you have made be good.

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Make men you have created,

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be your creatures.

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Replace in our lives, we ask,

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lethargy with life,

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turn our aspirations into actions,

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and our thoughts into deeds.

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Give the whole running earth,

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a strong present tense,

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we ask our Father.

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Strengthen and renew your creation

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by what we are saying,

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by what we are doing,

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by what we are celebrating in your name.

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Save us and all your people in our day.

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Show us who we are,

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how we are, and why we are Lord.

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We are of your own.

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Keep us truly human in Christ,

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the son of man who taught us

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to pray together saying,

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"Our Father who art in heaven,

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hallowed be thy name,

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thy kingdom come,

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thy will be done on earth

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as it is in heaven.

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Give us this day our daily bread,

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and forgive us our trespasses,

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as we forgive those who trespass against us.

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And lead us not into temptation,

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but deliver us from evil

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for thine is the kingdom,

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and the power and the glory forever.

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Amen.

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Comes now the sermon.

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Sermon comes in dialogue form again.

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This being one in a series

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of dialogues sermons.

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For three years in a row,

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we have had a topic presented in chapel,

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in which the university chaplain,

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that being myself,

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dialogues with an undergraduate student at Duke,

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concerning a topic of interest

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and concern to the Christian community.

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First one was with Joe Harris.

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The next was with Dennis Campbell.

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The third was with Ninian Bell,

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and the fourth was with,

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Tom Raper and Reed Kramer.

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The one today is with Peggy O'Reilly,

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president of the YW.

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So in terms of (garbled speech) recent sermon

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on 19 men and (garbled speech),

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the score now on dialogue sermons is six men,

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and Peggy, the one today is on women's liberation.

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There's been an enormous outburst of interest

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in the subject of women's liberation.

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Particularly during this immediate past year.

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On December 16,

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LOOK Magazine had an article

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on the rage of women.

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On December 12th,

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LIFE Magazine had an article called,

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"An 'Oppressed Majority' Demands Its Rights."

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The November 21 edition of TIME Magazine,

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carried a lengthy article

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on the same subject under the title,

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"Revolt Against Sexism."

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Recent editions of the magazine called Psychology Today,

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have had two excellent articles

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on the subject of what is called women's lib.

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The current edition

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of the Atlantic Monthly Magazine,

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is a special issue on the subject.

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You are aware that newspapers, TV, et cetera,

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recently had a great deal of material on this.

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It appears therefore,

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that if we go to the library,

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we shall be able to find

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an abundance of material

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dealing with the liberation of women.

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But now here we are in chapel, Peggy,

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just now, does the Bible

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say anything at all on this subject?

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It seems more than a little odd,

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you should ask me that question chaplain.

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Since you're the one

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that's been trained as a minister,

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and has made that your vocation,

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isn't the Bible more in your feet?

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True, but on the other hand,

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I am a man and as such,

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I may be significantly insensitive

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to the needs and the injustices,

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which women feel,

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and to which passages in the Bible

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may speak very eloquently.

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So not only because the Bible

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belongs to everyone equally,

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but because you are a woman Peggy,

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do you mind if I toss the question

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back to you for a moment?

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Does the Bible, as you read it,

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really say something on this subject?

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Yes it does.

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The books of the Bible contain the history

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of the continuous struggle for liberation.

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For freedom from oppression of any kind,

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whether it be spiritual,

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personal, social, or political.

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God's message to the Pharaoh

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delivered by Moses,

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echoes throughout the Bible,

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"Let my people go."

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The prophets speak constantly

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and insistently of liberation.

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For example, part of the 61st chapter Isaiah,

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which earlier was read

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as our scripture selection for today,

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tell us how God's spirit

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came upon the prophet,

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anointing him to proclaim liberty to the captives,

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and the opening of the prison

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to them that are bound.

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Now, I assume,

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from your willingness to identify

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these prophetic passages

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with the women's liberation movement,

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that you feel that the movement

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is something quite different

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from just another campus interest group,

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like the sailing club,

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or the wrestling team or something.

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Do you feel that women are,

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as a group, oppressed, and enslaved,

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and are in need of liberation?

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You're really asking two questions there.

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First, if women are, as a group,

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oppressed and enslaved,

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and second, if indeed they are,

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do they need to be liberated?

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The need for asking these questions,

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serves to point up

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the severity of the problem.

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Knowing as we do, the secondary class,

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and subordinate status

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of women in our society,

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we still find the need to ask

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whether this inferior role assignment,

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constitutes oppression.

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And even if it does,

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is it serious enough

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to warrant liberation?

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The question then, as I see it is basic,

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do women consistently occupy

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subordinate positions by choice?

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That is, this is the inherent role of women.

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Or is the status of women

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prescribed and dictated by society

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in such a way as to restrict

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and confine women to limited roles,

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which deprive us

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of full human development,

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and alternately exploit,

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and ignore our existence.

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Women in America comprise over 51% of the population,

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and we are primarily domestic

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and dependent creatures.

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Our primary role is that of housewife,

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and/or mother.

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Any other tasks are take on

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in addition to this,

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and must allow for the adequate performance

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of these so-called primary functions.

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Now this definition of cooking,

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sweeping floors, washing dishes, doing laundry,

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as the primary function of women,

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is not something to be taken lightly.

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One psychiatrist explains,

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"Women who try to reject

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these domestic functions,"

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and he chooses to describe

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as masculine women,

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"Can find only one path

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to true mental health.

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That path consists solely

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of recognizing her real nature,

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and surrendering to it."

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As he explains,

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"Those details of life

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that once seemed so difficult become simple.

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And because they are feminine tasks,

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household work, planning and getting dinners,

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keeping the children busy or in line,

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whatever life demands of her,

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soon lose their irksome

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and irritating quality

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and become easy, even joyful.

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At this juncture,

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or closely following on it,

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a woman begins to feel her full power,

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the power that comes to her,

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with her surrender to her destiny.

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Yes, life comes to demand very little of her,

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she demands nothing from it.

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But what greater power is there?"

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He seems to be saying,

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"That which is necessary,

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to totally eradicate

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what would have been her life?

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No plantation owner ever spoke

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quite so eloquently

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on the joys of slavery."

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Passivity breeds dependence,

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and dependence, in turn, requires passivity.

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In order for any person

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to develop beyond the adolescent level,

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some measure of independence must be achieved.

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For their own development,

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children must eventually leave home,

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but women rarely do.

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And there's some questions

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to whether we actually ever do develop

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beyond the adolescent level.

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Although acculturation

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and sex role learning

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take place from birth on,

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it's not until a girl

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reaches her adolescent years,

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that she learns the price

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of being born female in our society.

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Up until this time,

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she is allowed to engage

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in almost as many activities as her male peers,

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and usually on an equal basis.

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The tendency in pre-adolescent years

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is for girls to surpass boys in academic fields.

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But this trend is reversed in high school,

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where we learn that academic success

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is all right in its place,

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but attracting boys is what really counts.

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Both with our peers,

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and with our parents.

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No longer a child,

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now a young woman

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who begins learning the art

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of catching and holding a man.

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This, it seems,

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is the real business of a woman's life.

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And most of the real learning

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that takes place during this period

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of a girl's life,

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centers around the arts of pleasing,

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of makeup, dress, hairstyles,

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the ability to please others.

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One psychologist who said,

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"It's not half so surprising

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that women learn not to excel over men,

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is that it takes us so long to learn."

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For many women this is the end

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of individual development.

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The rest of her life is spent

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molding herself to please others,

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particularly men.

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Counselors of adolescent girls

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have even been known

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to actively discourage women

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from forming their own personalities too well,

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for fear that they will have difficulty

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accommodating themselves

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to some future husband.

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Women go from father to husband,

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protected and provided for,

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as symbolized by the father

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giving away the bride at the wedding.

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There's no need for her

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to grow up any further.

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And this is why I say,

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that some of us women

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may never progress

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beyond the adolescent level.

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But what about the women

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who decide to continue their education?

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More doing so, every year?

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But the price of being born female,

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again, becomes evident.

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She discovers that it is more difficult for her,

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than for her male counterpart

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to gain admission

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to a good college or university.

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This institution is a case in point,

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there are at least twice as many men

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as women on this campus.

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The entrance requirements

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for women are higher.

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The living conditions

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for women are more intolerable.

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There's some bitter irony,

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and debates on residential life,

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which center on the men,

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who have only four choices

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of living conditions.

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But here we are,

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college students who are somewhat intelligent,

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but at the same time,

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have been taught not to excel.

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How do we resolve this conflict?

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On the extreme,

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is the decision to choose between

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academic success and male companionship.

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More often, some compromise is reached.

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How often do we sit silent in class,

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scribbling rapidly in our notebooks,

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in true feminine secretarial style,

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taking down the words

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of our predominantly male faculty?

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And if we speak at all,

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it is after class to the professor,

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or back in the dorm,

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or in the dope shop,

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where we're more comfortable amongst friends.

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I refuse to believe

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that the women's students

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in our university,

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are so incompetent,

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as to have no intelligent comments to make,

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no perceptive analysis to offer.

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But this is the image

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that comes across in the classroom.

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Again, we have learned our lessons well,

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the prime goal is still marriage,

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and few think much farther than that.

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Graduate school is even more difficult,

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and just one example should suffice you.

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During my freshman year here at Duke,

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there was a dinner for women students

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who were interested in law school.

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One of our own law school professors

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summed up the problem rather well,

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"We don't like to accept women,

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because they don't stay in school

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long enough to complete

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the course of study.

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Even if they do complete the course,

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they never use the training.

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And even if they should become professionals,

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they're taking positions away

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from men who need to support families."

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But I say, what about women,

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who do support families,

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and men who don't?

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What about the extreme pressure that women find

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when they are outnumbered

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20 to one and more,

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by men who consider her out of place?

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What about women who don't practice their skills

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because it is so highly difficult,

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and sometimes impossible

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to find employment

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which we use those skills?

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But university experience is paradise

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compared to what women face

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in the working world.

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Of women who have some source

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of independent income,

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the median income

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is less than $1,600 a year.

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For men, the same median is $5,300.

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In full-time year-round employment,

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the median income for women is $4,000.

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The same for men, 7,000.

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And this disparity has two roots.

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The first and most obvious,

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that women are predominantly

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in low paying jobs,

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with no hope and no possibility for advancement.

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And the second,

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that women who are employed

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on equal capacities,

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even on the executive level,

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have incomes anywhere from 200

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to several thousand dollars a year,

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less than men the same or similar jobs.

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For working class women,

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this problem becomes even more acute.

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They are hired in the lowest paying positions,

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are consistently passed over

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for training or promotion,

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are the first to be laid off,

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and the last to be rehired.

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For women in this society,

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comprise the expendable labor force.

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We have no right to work.

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It is rather a privilege,

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arbitrarily given,

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and just as arbitrarily removed.

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As Carolyn Bird has noted,

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"The price of occupational success

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is made so high for women

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that barring exceptional luck,

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only the unusually talented,

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or frankly, neurotic,

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can afford to succeed.

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Girls size up to bargain early,

33:28

and they're turned down.

33:31

We cannot underestimate

33:34

the impact of the church

33:35

on the growth and development of young women.

33:37

The role of women

33:40

in the institutional church

33:41

has been traditionally,

33:42

either non-existent,

33:43

or strongly subordinate.

33:45

And this seems to be quite in line

33:47

with the teachings of the church,

33:49

particularly evident in the letters of Paul.

33:51

It makes me really uncomfortable

33:54

trying to talk about

33:56

women's liberation in the chapel,

33:57

when it seems the church has traditionally

33:59

been one of the strongest

34:01

oppressors of women.

34:02

-

Wait. (garbled speech)

34:03

Now I've been hearing

34:04

what you've been saying,

34:06

Peggy, about the injustices

34:08

to women in society,

34:09

in professions, education, et cetera,

34:12

and that's enough to make a man uncomfortable.

34:15

But now when you say,

34:18

right here in the middle of the chapel,

34:20

standing beside the chaplain,

34:22

that the church and the New Testament

34:24

have been aiding and abetting,

34:26

and carrying forward,

34:28

the matter of the oppression of women,

34:29

you see this makes me Howard Wilkinson,

34:32

feel very uncomfortable.

34:35

So what am I going to do about it?

34:38

Well, first thing I'm going to do is say,

34:40

you're absolutely right.

34:42

That the church has,

34:45

through all the centuries,

34:47

whatever the reason,

34:48

been one of the supporters of,

34:51

and you might say perpetrator,

34:54

I believe it was the word you used,

34:55

of the concept of male dominance,

34:57

and the concept of female subordination.

35:00

And it is true that many of the things

35:04

that the apostle Paul said

35:07

in his writings to the New Testament churches,

35:08

supports this idea.

35:12

I guess the one that's most glaring of all,

35:14

is the one that has sort of turned off

35:16

the women's liberation groups,

35:20

as far as Saint Paul

35:22

is concerned where he said,

35:23

"It's a shame for a woman

35:25

to speak in church,"

35:26

just like you've been doing here.

35:27

"And if she wants to know anything

35:29

about what's going on in church,"

35:31

you know, if she does,

35:33

"She can ask her husband at home."

35:35

We give you permission

35:38

to speak here today

35:39

because you don't have a husband.

35:40

And now the question

35:41

which New Testament scholars

35:45

would have to deal with here,

35:47

which they have dealt with,

35:49

is the question of whether or not,

35:50

these male supremacy implications

35:52

in the teaching of the apostle Paul,

35:55

are basically a reflection,

35:58

of what nobody doubts,

36:00

was the culture of his day.

36:02

Or whether the apostle Paul

36:04

was intentionally teaching

36:07

a male dominant kind of doctrine.

36:09

I'm going to,

36:14

for the sake of the argument,

36:15

today leave that to them.

36:16

But over against Saint Paul,

36:18

I would put Jesus,

36:21

for my own personal comfort and yours too.

36:24

You remember the occasion

36:26

when He went into the home

36:28

of Mary and Martha,

36:30

and He, as was His custom,

36:32

began to teach about

36:35

the realm of God, Kingdom of God.

36:36

And Mary sat down,

36:38

and engaged Him in conversation,

36:40

and talked with Him,

36:43

and listened to Him.

36:43

Martha, meanwhile,

36:45

knowing that practical things

36:48

ought to come first,

36:49

went back in the kitchen

36:50

and busied herself

36:51

with the pots and the pans.

36:52

Well, not only did Martha do this,

36:55

but after a while,

36:56

she looked out the door

36:57

and saw that Mary

36:58

was still sitting out there

36:59

talking about the things

37:01

of the realm of God.

37:02

And thinking to get the support of Jesus,

37:03

she came out and said,

37:06

"Master tell this shiftless sister of mine

37:07

to come back here in the kitchen,

37:09

and help me with the cooking."

37:11

And Jesus did not support her.

37:13

He surprised her, He said no,

37:15

that she's doing

37:18

the more important thing.

37:19

So I think that if I have to come down

37:21

on to authority in the New Testament,

37:24

on the subject of women's liberation,

37:26

I'll come down

37:28

while the New Testament professors

37:29

are exegeting and demythologizing Saint Paul

37:31

on Jesus at this point.

37:35

So far as the church goes,

37:38

I'll simply have to say that,

37:39

as in so many other areas,

37:41

in this area there's an awful lot of change

37:43

that needs to take place.

37:46

Church is beginning

37:48

to wake up to this now,

37:48

many denominations have women clergyman,

37:50

and more are being trained.

37:54

You may be aware that the current president

37:57

of the National Council of the Churches of Christ

38:00

in America is a woman.

38:02

And there are many other women

38:04

who are moving into positions

38:06

of real leadership,

38:08

and prominence in the church.

38:09

And of course, this is as it should be,

38:10

except that we need a lot more of that,

38:12

than we have up to now.

38:13

But now before time runs out,

38:16

there is a concept that I feel,

38:19

is of the very greatest importance

38:20

to an enlightened understanding

38:22

of this entire matter

38:24

of women's liberation.

38:26

If we do not sharpen this concept,

38:29

we're likely to find groups and individuals

38:31

fruitlessly quarreling among themselves

38:34

over what is true, what is not true,

38:37

and we may find that,

38:41

even if we do sharpen this concept.

38:42

But what I have in mind could be called,

38:44

the personality and its environment.

38:46

Or we could even refer to it as,

38:52

the ecology of personality,

38:54

use a term that is more in current use.

38:57

Now let me try to make it clear.

39:00

The church has assumed for centuries

39:03

that the person or the soul,

39:06

is made in the image of God,

39:10

who is spirit and not flesh at all.

39:12

And although we often refer to God

39:17

by a term which sounds masculine, Father,

39:19

we know that we could

39:23

properly speak of God as her,

39:24

instead of him.

39:29

Sex is merely of this world,

39:32

and is not of the realm of God.

39:34

It's an earthbound concept,

39:38

but Christian faith teaches

39:41

that the soul or personality,

39:42

which survives death and lives with God,

39:44

will be like God.

39:48

That is to say characterized

39:49

by neither earthbound,

39:52

masculinity nor femininity.

39:53

It's not characterized by fatness,

39:58

or baldness, or great height,

40:00

or blackness, or yellowness.

40:01

A person, or mind, or soul,

40:04

is not any bit diminished

40:07

by optical blindness,

40:09

as Helen Keller proved,

40:11

or by smallest of stature,

40:13

as Mahatma Gandhi proved.

40:14

A person, is a person, is a person,

40:17

whether male or female.

40:21

Okay, now let us turn the coin over,

40:24

and look at the other side.

40:29

Although our faith leads us to believe

40:31

that we are all the same

40:34

in the love of God,

40:36

human personality never functions

40:38

in this world,

40:41

without being specifically tied

40:44

to an earthbound context or environment.

40:46

Now part of that environment

40:51

is the physical body

40:53

in which the personality,

40:54

or soul functions.

40:55

That environment conditions

40:58

the personality in many ways.

41:00

However much I might be interested

41:03

in going on and on,

41:07

and on with this sermon,

41:09

the environment of my personality

41:11

will finally get hungry,

41:13

and I will have to quit preaching,

41:15

and go do something about that hunger.

41:17

Our environment has a lot of inherited drives,

41:20

instincts, and weaknesses,

41:24

and strengths, and needs,

41:25

and predispositions.

41:27

And although they're not a part

41:29

of the eternal equipment of the psyche,

41:31

they are so intrinsically bound

41:35

to the functioning

41:38

of the psyche in this world,

41:39

that it seems wise

41:41

to take them into consideration

41:42

and to make sensible adjustment to them,

41:44

as long as we're going

41:46

to function in this environment.

41:48

For instance,

41:50

a man whose legs have been amputated,

41:52

and who has been equipped

41:55

with certain artificial

41:56

and mechanical devices,

41:57

we'll discover that those devices

41:59

are as genuinely and as lastingly

42:03

a part of the environment

42:06

of his personality,

42:07

as my two legs are of my own.

42:09

Now I'm approaching

42:14

the central point that I wanna make.

42:15

If we say that this man's personality

42:17

has been oppressed

42:21

because he has not been encouraged

42:24

to play football like other men do,

42:26

and we get him out

42:29

on the football field and tell him that

42:30

we are liberating him to play football,

42:32

we are not in fact liberating him.

42:35

We are not in fact helping him

42:38

to achieve the highest personality development

42:39

of which he is capable.

42:42

We are instead,

42:43

encouraging him in a course,

42:44

which is not consistent

42:46

with the reality

42:47

of his personality environment,

42:48

and which will lead to his frustration,

42:51

more than to his fulfillment.

42:53

Now from this specific case,

42:56

I would generalize,

42:58

to the extent of saying

42:59

that mechanical equality,

43:01

or sameness of action

43:03

for every human being,

43:04

might not be consistent

43:06

with the highest fulfillment

43:08

of every human being.

43:10

I think the factors of age,

43:12

of sex, of strength, of instinct,

43:13

and a dozen other things

43:15

condition the decision of what may be,

43:17

a creative fulfillment for a given person.

43:21

-

Yeah, you wait a minute chaplain.

43:24

-

Okay.

43:26

-

I'm beginning to get a very uneasy feeling.

43:27

So before you go any further,

43:30

I wanted to ask you,

43:31

if you're leading up to the point

43:33

that the inherited environment,

43:35

as you'd phrase it,

43:36

of the female person,

43:37

is such that,

43:39

it would not be fulfilling for her

43:40

to shuck off the feminine mystique,

43:41

and exercise her capabilities as an equal,

43:44

along with men in every field of endeavor?

43:47

-

Well, your question strikes,

43:50

right at the heart of the second

43:51

of the two basic questions

43:53

of this whole women's liberation matter.

43:55

First question which we both

43:58

have already answered in different ways,

43:59

and on which I think we fully agree is,

44:01

should there be any structured inequalities

44:05

between men and women,

44:08

which presumes that woman is less then,

44:10

a full-fledged human being?

44:14

Or which suggests that she should not have

44:16

opportunity when she desires to do so,

44:18

to enter into full competition with men

44:22

in every area of human endeavor?

44:24

Now we both in essence,

44:27

have already answered no,

44:29

there should not be

44:32

any such structured inequalities or presumptions.

44:33

Second big question

44:38

is not so easily answered.

44:39

It might be phrased this way,

44:42

does the inherited...

44:44

And I say inherited,

44:46

rather than acculturated.

44:48

Does the inherited female environment

44:51

of personality include unchangeable factors,

44:54

which point toward the suggestion

44:59

that the most creative fulfillment

45:02

of her personality,

45:04

often lies in the assumption

45:05

of a somewhat different role

45:07

in society from that of men?

45:09

Now the question could be phrased

45:12

in a different way. (clears throat)

45:13

Let me try it this way.

45:15

Is it likely that in insistence,

45:17

that all women should actively seek

45:20

to compete with men in all areas of life

45:22

on an equal footing,

45:25

would lead to woman's frustration

45:27

more than to her fulfillment

45:29

because of her inherited environment?

45:31

Now, as I understand it Peggy,

45:35

the basis of your uneasy feeling was,

45:36

it was beginning to sound

45:39

like I was gonna say yes,

45:42

to this second big question.

45:44

Well now, let me say plainly

45:48

that at this point,

45:50

my lack of knowledge

45:51

about the relevant matters,

45:53

is such that I cannot answer

45:55

an honest yes or an honest no.

45:56

Furthermore, I doubt really,

46:01

that any human being alive today,

46:03

does know the answer.

46:05

Frankly, I doubt that any man,

46:07

or any woman actually knows,

46:08

how much of what has been called

46:10

the feminine mystique,

46:12

is the product of acculturation,

46:15

and how much is inherited instinct.

46:17

I also think that until by a very difficult,

46:20

and lengthy scientific research,

46:23

we come up with the facts,

46:25

we shall not have the wisdom

46:27

to give a helpful answer

46:28

to this important human question.

46:30

The research should be enterprise, (coughing)

46:33

but it will perhaps

46:36

be the most difficult piece

46:37

of research ever undertaken by the human race.

46:38

-

I'm afraid that we're too easily sidetracked

46:43

by needs for further research.

46:46

Many psychologists claim

46:48

that an individual's personality

46:50

is formed primarily,

46:52

by perceived expectations.

46:53

We all tend to do and be,

46:56

whatever is expected of us.

46:58

It seems to me then,

47:00

that as long as we, as women,

47:02

are not only expected,

47:04

but required to fit into certain predefined roles,

47:06

any testing or research will show only

47:11

that most of us do fit these roles.

47:14

Until such time as sex roles can be abolished,

47:17

we will not truly be free

47:20

to choose our own lives,

47:23

and find our own fulfillment.

47:24

-

Well, I think certainly,

47:30

we can agree that,

47:31

as a society and as a church,

47:34

we should get on with the changes

47:36

that we are agreed on,

47:39

and which certainly need to be made today.

47:41

-

And let us not wait

47:47

for the revolution to happen to us,

47:49

for if we do it will never come.

47:52

The revolution will come

47:55

only when we make it.

47:56

Jane Adams said,

47:59

after the American revolution,

48:00

that in the making of the new constitution,

48:02

the men were well-advised

48:05

to be a little more careful of the ladies,

48:07

and give not so much power to the men.

48:10

For we will not be bound by laws

48:14

in which we have had no voice in the making.

48:17

And if we are again ignored,

48:21

we are determined to foment a rebellion.

48:23

It's been a long time coming,

48:28

but the time is now here.

48:31

We proclaim liberty to the captives,

48:33

the opening of the prison

48:36

to them that are bound.

48:38

And we are now truly ready

48:40

to foment a rebellion.

48:42

(bright choral music)

48:51

(bright choral music)

49:11

(bright choral music)

49:30

(bright choral music)

49:50

(somber choral music)

51:35

(somber choral music)

51:56

(somber choral music)

52:13

(somber choral music)

52:29

(somber choral music)

52:49

(somber choral music)

53:11

(somber choral music)

53:33

(somber choral music)

53:59

(somber choral music)

54:34

(somber choral music)

55:07

(somber choral music)

55:50

(somber choral music)

56:18

(bright choral music)

56:30

(bright choral music)

57:00

(bright choral music)

57:19

(bright choral music)

57:35

-

Our Father, God,

57:58

you called your people

58:00

out of bondage in Egypt

58:01

and asked them to be your free,

58:04

and faithful community.

58:06

Here, we offer, Oh Lord ourselves,

58:08

our talents, and our gifts,

58:11

to continue the struggle

58:14

to be your followers

58:16

in the midst of our bondage.

58:17

Grant us wisdom and grant us courage,

58:20

to risk leaving the securities,

58:24

and the oppressions of Pharaoh's land,

58:26

for your promised land of freedom,

58:30

through Christ who broke the bondage,

58:32

both of Egypt and of death for us.

58:35

Go forth now to be God's

58:44

faithful people in the world,

58:46

and may the love, the grace,

58:48

and the presence of God the Father,

58:51

the Son, and the Holy Spirit go with you.

58:53

♪ Amen ♪

59:02

♪ Amen ♪

59:08

♪ Amen ♪

59:14

♪ Amen ♪

59:21

♪ Amen ♪

59:31

♪ Amen ♪

59:41

♪ Amen ♪

59:57

(church bell ringing)

1:00:13

(dramatic piano music)

1:00:29

(congregation chattering)

1:01:28

(congregation chattering)

1:01:56

(congregation chattering)

1:02:20

(congregation chattering)

1:02:38

(congregation chattering)

1:02:57

Howard C. Wilkinson and Peggy O'Reilly - "Women and Liberation" (March 15, 1970)

Transcript

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Duke University Archives