Married Women
There can be no doubt about it – married women must obey their husbands in all that is not sin. This is because there needs to be a single authority in the family and God has ordained by nature that the husband is the head of the family.
Unmarried Women
Given that it is plain that married women must obey their husbands, in addition unmarried women must obey unmarried men again with the assumption that nothing is contrary to God’s law. There are a number of reasons for this.
First, is the fact that men are superior to women. This superiority comes from men’s lack of emotion. Men are able to think and make decisions better because they do not feel emotion as strongly. Women appreciate this quality in men. It shows that they have mental strength. They are comparatively less moved by most events.
In fact, I have read a fictional book written by a woman author who unknowingly shows this fact by unwittingly making a man act like a woman. In it, she has the main character who is a male become very enraged after the death of someone very close to him. He is expressing his rage to a much older man who is a good friend and has authority over him. When he observes that this older man is showing signs of emotion and is thus weak he thinks, as the author reveals, that he is being betrayed.
There is actually very strong proof that men are superior to women which has been presented to me in a very providential situation. With another true Catholic, I met with a true Catholic priest. I expressed my idea that women should obey men or that men are superior to women. The other true Catholic expressed his doubt that outside of marriage women are morally obliged to obey men. In reply, the priest, who was not very comfortable with English, clearly stated (probably under the influence of the Holy Ghost), “Men are superior to women.”
Now, given that men are superior to women it follows that women ought to obey men. It is a principle in theology that that which is lower should be subject to that which is higher. Thus, the body should be subject to the soul and the soul should be subject to God.
Second, is a number of personal observations that I have made about women. They often are related to the idea that women by nature were created by God to be the helpers of men. To be a helper is to be under someone. My niece at a young age (perhaps 4) wanted to be able to accompany her slightly older brother outside, so that she could help him. A former woman co-worker, I recall in a meeting said with no displeasure that she was being used (in this case to send out emails) by the older man that she was working under.
On two occasions, I had the opportunity to walk and talk with women who I had an interest in (which I believe was reciprocated). Both times, there was evidence that I had the authority. In one case, I made the decision about what we were going to do. I also had a sense of my position. I had felt this sense at least one time before. That was when two of my nephews were left with me by one of my parents for a period of time at a baseball game. In the second case, the woman that I was talking to asked permission to begin ending the interaction.
Third, there is a general consensus among both men and women about how men and women should act. A woman who acts like a man in a business situation can be called or perceived as bossy or bitchy. Some men, if not all, have a belief that to be the man is to be the leader in a friendship with a woman.
Finally, it is a fact that women do not feel treated badly when they obey men as men. They actually enjoy it. It is not enjoyable when he punishes her, but virtue is its own reward.