Christina and I watched the movie, North Country. I have heard good things about it in the past, but for some reason we never got around to watch it.
I don’t even know where to start to describe some of my emotions when I saw the movie. At first I was a bit appalled and then it turned into disgust and anger (righteous anger). The movie was based on true events in history. It was based on the first ever class-action sexual harassment lawsuit that was filed in 1988.
Lois Jenson and other female workers at the EVTAC mine in Eveleth, Minnesota filed the lawsuit against the mining company due to the sexual harassment that they experienced at work. The infamous Lois E. Jenson v. Eveleth Taconite Co. set the precedent for future lawsuit on sexual harassment.
I guess my justice side kicked in as I started to ask myself, “What if that was my daughter?”
It is remarkable to see how far we have come from the times that were depicted in the movie. But there are still a lot of underlining biases that men have when it comes to women. We see it in subtle ways – even in the church.
I have advised many women (warned many guys) that the way a guy treats the women in their lives (mother, sister, small group members, co-workers, etc) reflects how they will treat you when you get married to him. I know it is a scary thought… but there is truth in that statement.
My prayer is that all the men in our church will hold to a high standard of honoring women because they are cherished by God. I am constantly amazed at every interaction that Jesus had with women in the Bible. In fact, it humbles me because it shows how much more I need to grow in learning to honor women. Jesus set the standard… we, men want to be more like Him… therefore, we need to follow His example.