Don’t Be Afraid to Bear Life
By Susan Brady, from Network of Enlightened Women
I scroll through my Instagram feed, seeing post after post showing the chaos in our culture. Do you ever wish you were born in a different era? I am grateful that in the modern day, we avoid many hardships of the past. However, if you have spent an hour online or in school, you know the corruption our culture faces. There is immense confusion and perversion surrounding gender. Leftists are trying to redefine womanhood to mean something false and demeaning.
What is womanhood exactly? For a fresh perspective, I asked my ten-year-old sister in the car one day, “What is the difference between women and men?” She looked at me funny, thought about it, and replied, “Women can be moms.” I pondered her simple response. I realized it was the perfect answer.
Women’s defining biological characteristic is our ability to bear life. It is central to our identity in many ways. But what about women who don’t have children? Are women who never have children considered lesser of women? Absolutely not.
Women can bear life regardless of whether they have children or not. I heard this inspiring idea in a philosophy class at the University of Dallas—one of the few American universities devoted to traditional, Western thought. Women’s life-giving instinct is not just of a physical nature, but of a spiritual and relational nature too. Women bear life in the world by encouraging and enabling the flourishing of others.
Whether bringing a humane dimension to science, teaching elementary students, or attending to a coworker’s workplace complaints, there are many avenues through which women nurture. Women have a gift for touching the human condition.
There are so many prominent women who are life-bearers. Justice Amy Coney Barrett, in playing a part in the reversal of Roe v. Wade, defended the lives of the unborn. Riley Gaines, in speaking out the inclusion of men in women’s sports, fought for women’s athletic opportunities and for them to have a fair playing field.
But let us not forget motherhood, for which modern society has so much disdain. It calls children a burden and misguides many women who’d be more fulfilled by the motherhood vocations into soul-draining careers.
Having been involved in the pro-life movement for the past seven years, I realize how much I desire to have children. I want to encourage other women not to be ashamed of their desire for children, even if they also dream of careers.
And as a single woman, I don’t know when or if I will have children one day. During college, I served at my local pregnancy resource center and helped establish a scholarship for pregnant and parenting students. Through supporting mothers in need, I poured life into them so that they could then pour life into their children.
Women, when we comfort a hurting friend, defend babies inside and outside the womb, or bring emotional consideration to a work meeting, we practice our femininity and life-giving intuition.
I have had much time to contemplate the preciousness of human life. I believe all life is created by God and that every life has purpose. So the next time you wish you were born in a different time period, know that you are here on this earth during this crazy age for a reason. And as much as this world wants you to dismiss your womanhood as unimportant, remember that the world needs you.
