Eastern Star question

[AGDAlum]

I searched the archive for previous OES threads and think my question is something new. I'm somewhat more comfortable asking this thru GreekChat, since I've been part of this community, than if I hunted for an OES site and asked complete strangers....

Anyway: I grew up in an inactive Masonic family (my dad kept his Blue Lodge/Shrine membership in Pennsylvania though he lived in Illinois from 1947 until his death). My mother was not in OES though my grandmothers and other relatives were. I was in Job's Daughters (served as Honored Queen, even!).

What I've wondered about: OES is a women's organization. Yet men's membership and participation is inextricably tied up in chapter operations--along with the Worthy Matron there must be a Worthy Patron. OTOH, the men's Masonic orgs don't allow women. Is this the status quo, so deeply ingrained that OES members don't consider it to be problematic/patriarachal/unequal?

My conjecture is that OES began as an auxiliary, at a time when many social organizations were strictly gender-specific, and the husband's approval/participation was critical for the women to be able to be involved. ("The wives can't know our secret work and what we're doing at our lodge, but we have to know what they're doing at theirs.")

Thanks for the enlightenment!

AGDAlum

[tinydancer]

That's a good question. I have only been in Eastern Star for about 3 years, so I don't even have an answer. Part of it "may" be that many of the chapters consist of older people, and maybe they do not see it the same way as some of the younger people. I think that it is just accepted as being that way. I'm not saying that is right or wrong, necessarily. Perhaps someone who has been a member longer can comment further. BTW, I am one of the "young" members of my chapter and I'm 52!!!

Maybe AlphaSigOU will come on here in a while and give you the male viewpoint.

[AlphaSigOU]

Currently, that is the status quo. Women may not become Masons, though there are branches of Freemasonry that are women-only or accept both men and women. However, these organizations are not recognized by mainstream Freemasonry in the United States.

The status quo has been there so long that most OES members don't even give a second thought to it. Back when OES was formed in the mid-1800s, cultural differences were quite different than they are today. Women rarely ventured outside the home, and if they were married, not without their husbands. When Rob Morris (the founder of Eastern Star) created the Order, he intended it as an organization for women that shared Masonic principles with that of the all-male lodges.

While the principal officer (the Worthy Matron) must be a woman, at least five members, one of whom must be a man, are required to open or close a chapter. The Worthy Patron is the officer who confers the degree and administers the obligation. Even so, not every Master Mason can attend an OES meeting; he must be initiated into OES and in good standing before he can be present at a chapter meeting or initiation.