The widespread state of discontent that marks this beginning of the millennium applies equally to the delicate issue of gender - the theme of this text. In approaching such an explosive subject - risk that I run due to the intense ideological patrol prevailing - I approach the Spiritist woman, since in theory she enjoys an arsenal of knowledge and privileged information.

Having said this, it should be noted that, perhaps never before in Human History, the Spirits incarnated in the feminine polarity enjoyed such favorable existential conditions. I do not mean to imply, of course, that the state of perfection has already been attained, for such a thing does not yet exist on the face of the Earth. But I am referring to the concrete possibilities of living a dignified and decent existence in this physical frame.

In this sense, it is worth remembering that today women are in almost all sectors of activity (in fact, they dominate widely some, such as banks, health, education and financial services, according to data published in the magazine Voce S/A 150 best companies to work with, 2017). That is, females are in factories, hospitals, construction sites, laboratories, parliaments, performing executive functions in organizations, teaching activities and so on. Moreover, women are in charge of important nations and institutions of the planet, making mistakes and correcting them, it is necessary to stress, as much as men.

Disrespectful behavior towards women is being fought hard - with full support, say, of men. By the way, modern men have revealed a facet hitherto unknown, i.e., they help with the home issues - as never before. After all, men today shop for the home, look after the children in schools, many cook even clean the house, among other things. Put in other words, the 21st century man of the Christian era has shown tremendous disposition and flexibility in relation to women's claims.

However, what one sees today goes far beyond the just search for space and recognition on the part of the females (Spirits). There is at present on Earth an undisputed struggle for power in institutions. Stimulated by the bellicose feminist thought - which is as erratic and gloomy as chauvinism - we entered an era of dangerous disputes driven by the unfortunate binary reasoning: woman vs. man. In fact, the theme about gender has been treated and discussed as if it were exclusively female.

At least that is what is observed - paradoxically - in many publications (especially academic) in this area, which should give the matter a more exempt treatment. Despite this unfortunate bias, women have been benefited and their value recognized, given that - despite the difficulties of the way and considering that most men aim to achieve similar goals - many have managed to reach the top. As I said earlier, women have been supported and encouraged to accomplish their ideals - even if they are not spiritually the most appropriate for their evolution. This relevant issue is implicit in, for example, the statement by Indra Nooyi, Pepsico’s global CEO, in an interview with Forbes magazine:

"I do not think women can have everything. I just do not think so. We pretend we have everything. We imagine we can have it all. My husband and I have been married for 34 years. And we have two daughters. And every day you have to make a decision on whether you are going to be a wife or a mother, actually many times during the day you need to make those decisions. And you have to co-opt many people to help you. We co-opted our families to help us. We plan our lives meticulously so we can be decent parents. But if you ask our daughters, I'm not sure they're going to say I was a good mother. I'm not sure. And I try all kinds of coping mechanisms ". (My emphasis)

Note that there is an undeniable discomfort in the speech of the known executive. In spite of the success obtained in her professional career, there is doubt and restlessness in her courageous testimony. Apparently, there is the feeling that something crucial is missing or not fulfilled within the family. In fact, what she outlines is absolutely in line with several studies focused specifically on female people who enjoy the same professional status. In some cases, it is worth mentioning that the women interviewed say they feel jealous of their children's nannies, given that, due to their decisions to prioritize their careers they end up practically abdicating in some way the position of mothers.

It is unquestionable that they pay the bills in full or in part, as they have succeeded in gaining financial emancipation, but they do not experience the taste and richness of the full mother's experience.

The modern world, as I have said above, does not prevent women at all. But every decision has a cost. After all, you cannot get everything... and Nooyi adds:

"My remark... is that the biological clock and the career clock are in total conflict with one another. It is a total and complete conflict. When you have to have children, you need to build your career. Just as you are moving up to middle management, your kids need you because they are teenagers - they need you for their youth". (My emphasis)

The conflict explained here arises mainly from the fact that there are different roles to be played both by the Spirits incarnated in the feminine condition and by those in the masculine. Otherwise, there would be no such pronounced physical changes established by the Creator. In this sense, let us remember, moreover, that Allan Kardec addressed the subject in The Book of Spirits, according to the question below:

201. In a new existence, can the Spirit who gave life to the body of a man animate that of a woman and vice versa? Certainly, the Spirits that animate men and women are the same.

202. When wandering, what does the Spirit prefer: To incarnate in the body of a man, or that of a woman? It matters little to the Spirit. What guides it in its choice are the trials that it must go through.

Spirits incarnate as men or as women because they do not have a sex. Since they have to progress in everything, each sex, as each social position, provides them with special trials and duties, and with that, the opportunity to gain experience. He who only embodies as a man would know only what men know.

Kardec went further to inquire of the Spirits on another question:

821. The functions to which the woman is destined by Nature will have as great importance as the functions deferred to the man? Yes, even more. It is she who gives him the first notions of life". (My emphasis)

Therefore, to perform such a function - vital, by the way - it takes dedication and courage, even more in these times in which we live, where children, teenagers and young people are clearly disoriented, besides revealing a significant lack of wisdom and maturity.

And so that there would be no doubt as to the distinction of roles - Kardec asked them in question 822-a - of that same work:

822-a. Therefore, for a legislation to be perfectly just, should it establish the equality of the rights of men and women? Of rights, yes, of functions, no. It is needed that everyone be in their proper place. The man takes care of the outside, while the woman takes care of the inside, each one according to their aptitude. [...](My emphasis)

Based on such clarifications we can infer that feminism is pushing the woman to assume a position of confrontation with serious damages, even for the harmony of the human family.

In addition, in examining the influence of feminism, the Spirit Emmanuel commented, in question no. 67 of The Comforter (psychographics by Francisco Candido Xavier):

"The feminist ideology of modern times, however, with the various political and social flags, can be a poison to the unsuspecting woman of her great Spiritual duties on this Earth. If there is a legitimate feminism, it must be that of the re-education of women for the home, never for counterproductive action outside it. It is that the feminine problems cannot be solved by the codes of man, but only in the generous and divine light of the Gospel". (My emphasis)

Seeing the relevance of women in another area, Emmanuel also clarifies (see question no. 109 of the same work):

"The children's period is the most serious and the most convenient to the assimilation of educational principles.

Until the age of seven, the Spirit is still in the process of adapting to its new life in the world. At this age, there is still no perfect integration with the organic matter. His recollections of the Spiritual plane are therefore more alive, and become more susceptible to renewing the character and establishing a new path, in the consolidation of the principles of responsibility, if it finds in its legitimate parents representatives of the family association.

That is why the home is so important for the edification of man, and why so deep is the mission of a woman before the divine laws.

After the period as a child, which is a credit to all paternal energies and care, the processes of moral education, which form the character, become more difficult with the integration of the Spirit into its material organic world and, upon becoming of full age, if education was not accomplished in the home, then only the violent process of hard trials in the world can renew the thought and conception of creatures, since the reincarnated soul will have taken over all its harmful heritage from the past and will repeat itself in the same falls, if it lacked the Inner Light of sacred educational principles".(My emphasis)

In the book Dictionary of the Soul (psychographics by Francisco Candido Xavier), Emmanuel also considers: "The feminist program is not that of excluding women from their dependence: it must be the understanding of their great duties. Within Nature, the lines established by the impenetrable designs of God do not change, under the influence of the unlimited human will; and women cannot change the structural complex of their body".

In the same book, Eugenia Braga states that "feminism - the one that integrates women into self-knowledge - is the movement of Jesus, in favor of the home, for the home, and within the home".

Thus, one can see at once that the modern feminist movement is completely unrelated to the Spiritual aspects that emancipate the soul. Its flag is not in favor of the home or the union of the family, but essentially of the fleeting power.

The contemporary woman has the legitimate right to make her choices. However, in prioritizing the career exclusively, I for my part see that the difficulties will always be significant, since the number of jobs on the planet is not enough to absorb everyone - and it does not seem to me that there is such an objective, at least not while human decisions are not based on love and compassion.

On the other hand, when choosing the family, the woman gives proof of invaluable love and surrender. Since love is the highest Spiritual achievement of the entire Universe, the development of this virtue will by extension be considerable in the eyes of Spirituality.

Confirming this understanding, the Spirit Analia Franco, in the work Salome (dictated by the Spirit Lucius and psychographics of Sandra Carneiro), explains the following:

"It is mainly in the home, in the family, that the woman is invited to exercise this softness, the love that adds and strengthens those around her. This is where the new society demands urgency in women's action. It is the woman's job, in particular, to work for domestic and family harmony. Her dedication - which in many cases may even come to sacrifice - will bless all family members. With eyes fixed on the heights, she will act as God's tool on Earth, with those whom the Father entrusted to her, raising the vibrations around her house, edifying the good, exemplifying patience, forgiveness and love. Such a role, my friends, belongs - above all – to the woman". (My emphasis)

In addition, nothing more enlightening than to call on the wisdom of Jesus Christ, recorded in Chapter 22, entitled "The Woman and the Resurrection", from the book Good News, dictated by the Spirit Humberto de Campos (psychographics by Francisco Candido Xavier). The revealing dialogue brings relevant aspects on the issue:

"What do you have, Simon?" asked the Master with his penetrating and friendly gaze.

Old Cephas was surprised with the Lord’s words and transmitted his fears and concerns by a gesture, as if he had difficulty in completely forgetting the old law, in order to understand the new idea on his long journey of love, enlightenment and hope.

"Master," he replied shyly, "the law that governs us has the woman, who demoralized her life, stoned."

Knowing the fisherman's thoughts in advance and observing his scruples in giving him a slight warning, Jesus answered him gently:

"Most often, Simon, it is not the woman who demoralizes herself: it is the man who destroys her life. [...].

The old fisherman received the exhortation with a new gleam in his eyes as if touched in the most intimate fibers of his Spirit.

"Master," he said, highly surprised, "your word is that of divine revelation. Do you mean, then, that the woman is superior to the man, in her earthly mission?

"Both are equal before God," the Christ explained lovingly, "and the tasks of both are balanced in the way of life, completing perfectly, so that on every occasion there may be the most holy mutual respect. We must consider, however, that the woman received the sacred mission of life. Having advanced more than her companion on the path of feeling, she is therefore closer to God who often takes her heart as an instrument of His messages, full of wisdom and mercy. In all human achievements, there is always the trace of feminine tenderness, raising imperishable works in the edification of the Spirits. In the history of men only the names of politicians, philosophers, and generals remain; however, they are all sons of a great heroine who passes, in silence, unknown to all, often torn in her most intimate feelings or destroyed in the most punishing sacrifices. But also God, Simon, passes ignored in all the achievements of human progress and we know that the noise belongs to men, while the silence is of God, synthesis of all truth and all love.

That is why the most unfortunate women still have the divine germ in their hearts, for the redemption of the whole of humanity. Their feeling of tenderness and humility will at all times be the great script for the illumination of the world, for without the treasure of feeling all the works of human reason may seem like a castle of false splendor.

Simon Peter, overjoyed and in a sanctified admiration and fervor, listened to the Master”. (My emphasis)

In conclusion, Spirits incarnated in women's clothing have before them a valuable opportunity for progress as long as they are willing to give authentic love to their fellows, as have other great women of the past. They will certainly also answer - even if partially - for whatever happens to those under their care. In fact, the human family today needs mothers who are truly engaged and engaged in the Spiritual well-being of their own. And such a mission requires extreme dedication. For this to happen, they may, for example, set more modest career and work goals to become more available, closer to, and involved in the guiding of their children, as well as provide them with good ethical and moral examples. In performing such an important role, God will always reserve opportunities for development and infinite joy.