It's the Little Things

I was checking out at a local Christian Bookstore today (buying a Bible for my sister). The saleslady began a little spiel about this "new online resource" the store was offering.

"It has something for everyone!" she said, showing me a sheet full of examples of content for families, students, kids, parents, men, women, etc. "And it has all these great contributors!"

Now, I had already decided not to buy it, ("It's only $4.99 a month!" is still $59.88 a year I could spend on something else) but I dutifully looked through the list.

Under the heading "Men" were subjects such as: "Health and Fitness," "Balancing Your Career and Family," "Being a Man of Integrity," "Loving Your Wife," etc. All good, positive things. So I moved on to "Women." And stopped. And stared. And stared some more.

You see, while the "Men" heading had a variety of categories, "Women" had these: "How to Balance Your Budget," "Debt," "Meaningful Spending," and "Tithing." That's it. All about money.

So I pointed this out to the saleslady. She laughed, agreed it was weird, but that the site had other topics for women too.

"That's great, but I find is disturbing that they chose to focus on such a superficial subject for women, while men have a whole variety to choose from," I answered.

Another employee (also a woman) overheard me.

"Well, it's because women have more struggles with money than men," she claimed. "There are articles on balancing a budget with kids, that sort of thing."

"But what about careers?" I asked. "What about single women, or women's health? Why are men given a variety and women aren't? That doesn't promote autonomy at all! It's unfair!"

"That'll be $25.47, ma'am," interrupted the saleslady.