Physics, Femininity, and Strength - Newton's Third Law

Some further thoughts from the last post - as I was reading more on the term "ezer kenegdo," I came across and illustration that one Jewish commentator makes: a man and a woman holding up an arch between the two of them. I realized that Newton's Third Law would fit well in this discussion both on the literal level about physics and as a metaphor for men and women in marriage.

Of course, being the engineer that I am, my first thought turned to free body diagrams to look at the forces acting on an arch and which direction they point.

If you were to segment the arch, there would be downward forces at the joints of the blocks

As you can see from this diagram, the forces point down and out from the legs, away from the center. You know this instinctively -- if I put a piece of card stock on the table and I told you to make an arch with it, how would you get it to stay upright? You'd have to push the "legs" toward each other; otherwise it would just slide outward until it was flat on the table again.

In physics speak, if we assume that the arch is symmetrical, then the forces required to hold up the card stock arch above must obey Newton's Third Law; they must be:

1) equal in magnitude and

2) opposite in direction.

1) Equal in magnitude - "ezer" / strength

In one of their seminars on marriage, Tim and Kathy Keller from Redeemer talked about the term "ezer" in regards to the role of the man and woman in marriage. Kathy noted that by definition, a helper can only help out of a position of strength.

Many times in English, the term "helper" ends up meaning "assistant." However, you couldn't possibly use "helper" to mean "assistant" when you're referring to God as Israel's help; it would be utterly ridiculous (not to mention wrong) to think of God as merely Israel's assistant when he's fighting for her!

I love that as women we are called to be strong! In physics terms, the arch would collapse if the pink arrow were significantly smaller than the blue one. This call to strength means that I don't have to be a princess bored out of my mind while I waiting for my prince to come rescue me from my tower and then end up as a pretty decoration on his horse. I am not just a cheerleader watching from the sidelines; I am a necessary contributing member of the team!

2) Opposite in direction - "kenegdo" / corresponding

This card stock arch will not stand because the forces acting on the right leg are in the same direction as the forces within the arch.

If you and one other person were surrounded by the enemy, would you rather be fighting with both of you facing the same direction or back-to-back? Clearly, the most advantageous arrangement would be back-to-back, seeing what your partner cannot, minimizing blind spots and maximizing offensive potential.

Women, therefore, are vital members of this arch-bearing team because they can bring strengths that complement men's weaknesses and vice versa. Expecting women to perform like men or lead like men and hiding their feminine (relational, nurturing, group-oriented, etc) qualities would be like asking the back-to-back warrior pair to face the same direction. Shooting yourself in the foot, don't you think?

I am made to be an ezer kenegdo, a critical member of a team, a strength, not a liability in a unique way that men cannot be. In the words of Barnard and Elisabeth Eliot, let me be strong. Let me be beautiful. Let me be a woman.

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Sources:

Ezer Kenegdo: http://godswordtowomen.org/ezerkenegdo.htm

Physics of arches: http://www.cpo.com/weblabs/chap3/archf.htm