Changes

'''Women''' are the female of the [[human]] [[species]], with the biological role of bearing offspring ([[pregnancy]] and [[childbirth]]).  In preparation for this role, women's [[breasts]] begin to grow at puberty, forming the most obvious physical difference between women and men other than the reproductive organs.  Other differences include a layer of subcutaneous [[fat]] under the skin which hides the underlying musculature, and a wider pelvis to facilitate carrying the [[baby]] and allowing it to be born.  Women also have a greater proportion of fine vellus hair over certain areas of their skin (such as their face and legs) than the coarse terminal hair which appears on men. {{fact}}

'''Women''' are the female of the [[human]] [[species]], with the biological role of bearing offspring ([[pregnancy]] and [[childbirth]]).  In preparation for this role, women's [[breasts]] begin to grow at puberty, forming the most obvious physical difference between women and men other than the reproductive organs.  Other differences include a layer of subcutaneous [[fat]] under the skin which hides the underlying musculature, and a wider pelvis to facilitate carrying the [[baby]] and allowing it to be born.  Women also have a greater proportion of fine vellus hair over certain areas of their skin (such as their face and legs) than the coarse terminal hair which appears on men. {{fact}}

Men have typically two times more upper body strength than women, and around 50% more leg strength. <ref>College women have 50 to 60 percent of the arm and shoulder strength and 70 percent of the leg strength of their male counterparts. [http://www.humankinetics.com/products/showexcerpt.cfm?excerpt_id=4171 Human Kinetics] </ref> Women have slightly longer average lifespans than men, which results in women overtaking men in population by middle age despite a 1.05:1 boy to girl ratio at birth in the United States.  This rate varies among countries. {{fact}}

Men have typically two times more upper body strength than women, and around 50% more leg strength.<ref>College women have 50 to 60 percent of the arm and shoulder strength and 70 percent of the leg strength of their male counterparts. [http://www.humankinetics.com/products/showexcerpt.cfm?excerpt_id=4171 Human Kinetics]</ref> Women have slightly longer average lifespans than men, which results in women overtaking men in population by middle age despite a 1.05:1 boy to girl ratio at birth in the United States.  This rate varies among countries. {{fact}}

== Women in history ==

== Women in history ==

*Warrior Celtic Queen [[Boudicca]] of the Iceni tribe

*Warrior Celtic Queen [[Boudicca]] of the Iceni tribe

*Empress Tsarina [[Catherine the Great]] of [[Russia]]

*Empress Tsarina [[Catherine the Great]] of [[Russia]]

*Pharoah [[Cleopatra]] of [[Egypt]]

*Pharaoh [[Cleopatra]] of [[Egypt]]

*[[Nobel Pize]]-winning physicist and chemist [[Marie Curie]]

*[[Nobel Pize]]-winning physicist and chemist [[Marie Curie]]

*[[Prime Minister of Pakistan]] [[Benazir Bhutto]], the first woman to lead an [[Islam|Islamic state]]

*[[Prime Minister of Pakistan]] [[Benazir Bhutto]], the first woman to lead an [[Islam|Islamic state]]

The [[New Testament]] contains several instructions regarding the role of women:

The [[New Testament]] contains several instructions regarding the role of women:

# Women are to dress modestly and not wear "broided hair, or [[gold]], or [[pearl]]s, or costly array."<ref>1 Timothy 2:9</ref><ref>Peter 3:2-6</ref>

# Women are to dress modestly and not wear "broided hair, or [[gold]], or [[pearl]]s, or costly array."<ref>1 Timothy 2:9</ref><ref>Peter 3:2-6</ref>

# Women may learn in silence, but may not be permitted to teach men<ref>1 Timothy 2:11-12</ref>. Some interpretations limit this rule to the teaching of doctrine.

# Women may learn in silence, but may not be permitted to teach men.<ref>1 Timothy 2:11-12</ref> Some interpretations limit this rule to the teaching of doctrine.

# Women are not permitted to speak in church.<ref>1 Corinthians 14:34-37></ref>

# Women are not permitted to speak in church.<ref>1 Corinthians 14:34-37></ref>

# Women are to be subservient to and follow the instructions of their husbands.<ref>Ephesians 5:22-24</ref><ref>Colossians 3:18</ref><ref>Titus 2:4-5</ref><ref>1 Peter 3:1-7</ref>

# Women are to be subservient to and follow the instructions of their husbands.<ref>Ephesians 5:22-24</ref><ref>Colossians 3:18</ref><ref>Titus 2:4-5</ref><ref>1 Peter 3:1-7</ref>

# Women "shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety."<ref>I Timothy 2:15</ref>

# Women "shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety."<ref>I Timothy 2:15</ref>

These viewpoints are not widely accepted in secular, first-world nations, although some believers still adhere to them. However, Christians do not always agree on how literal or universal these directives are intended to be. For example, dressing modestly is interpreted by some [[Anabaptist]]s to mean that women should only wear black or dull colors and that dresses should cover the entire arms and legs, whereas most non-Anabaptist Christians consider the directive to modesty as simply meaning that garments should not be wrongly provocative. The directive that women should not speak in church is regarded by some as being literal for all situations, but due to other New Testament passages which indicate that women were allowed to publicly testify in the early church<ref>1 Corinthians 11:5></ref>, the most common Christian interpretation{{fact}} of 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 is that women in the Corinthian church were in the habit of conversing casually and gossiping during the church service, and that the apostle Paul was telling them not to do that.  However, that interpretation is at odds with the following Scripture passage:

These viewpoints are not widely accepted in secular, first-world nations, although some believers still adhere to them. However, Christians do not always agree on how literal or universal these directives are intended to be. For example, dressing modestly is interpreted by some [[Anabaptist]]s to mean that women should only wear black or dull colors and that dresses should cover the entire arms and legs, whereas most non-Anabaptist Christians consider the directive to modesty as simply meaning that garments should not be wrongly provocative. The directive that women should not speak in church is regarded by some as being literal for all situations, but due to other New Testament passages which indicate that women were allowed to publicly testify in the early church,<ref>1 Corinthians 11:5></ref> the most common Christian interpretation{{fact}} of 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 is that women in the Corinthian church were in the habit of conversing casually and gossiping during the church service, and that the apostle Paul was telling them not to do that.  However, that interpretation is at odds with the following Scripture passage:

{{Bible quote|Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.|book=1Timothy|chap=2|verses=11-15|version=KJV}}

{{Bible quote|Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.|book=1Timothy|chap=2|verses=11-15|version=KJV}}

*[[Conservative women]]

*[[Conservative women]]

== Related Topics ==

== See also ==

*[[Men]]

*[[Men]]

*[[Egalitarian]] and [[complementarian]] theology

*[[Egalitarian]] and [[complementarian]] theology

[[Category: Human Beings]]

[[Category:Human Beings]]