From a late-1800s advertisement in the Idaho Free Press
“A Pleasure Shared By Women Only”
“Malherbe, the gifted French author, declared that of all things that man possesses, women alone take pleasure in being possessed. This seems generally true of the sweeter sex. Like the ivy plant, she longs for an object to cling to and love — to look to for protection…”
And from “Recovering Biblical Manhood & Womanhood — A Response To Evangelical Feminism,” 1991, in an article written by Pastor Ray Ortlund, Jr., analyzing what it means in Genesis 3:16, “Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” (p. 109) Ortlund says it’s either of these points God is making:
“…God is requiring the man to act as the head God made him to be, rather than knuckle under to ungodly pressure from his wife…”
Or is it:
“…in giving the woman up to her insubordinate desire, God is penalizing her with domination by her husband … as the woman competes with the man, the man, for his part, always holds the trump card of male domination to ‘put her in her place.'”
Now, I’m not sure I see the difference, and I’m frankly not sure Ortlund and his RBMW co-authors think too differently from dear ol’ Malherbe. The Frenchman says the sweeter sex enjoys male domination; Ortlund, et al, say they darned well had better.
I can’t help it. I find that really unfortunate, and yet fortunately un-Biblical.