The Watchtower, “Questions From Readers”
“Man and woman were not created equal in power and glory; the man came first and was given special prerogatives. As Jehovah is the head over his wifely organization, and as Christ is the head over his espoused church, so the man is the head over the woman. It is the woman that is commanded to show respect and recognition of the man's position of headship, and women who rebel at it are not so much rebelling against men as they are against God.”
The passage is the organisation's published answer to a reader's question, 'Is it proper for men to tip their hats to women?' The answer traces the custom to chivalry, says that Satan 'has pushed the woman ahead of the man', and concludes that a man should not raise his hat to a woman.
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Provenance and verification note for The Watchtower, Questions From Readers
Confidence note. The full column was fetched from the Watchtower Online Library on 19 September 2026 and read; the quoted paragraph falls immediately after the library's page marker for page 254. The citation code inside the document reads 'w52 4/15 pp. 254-256'.
Corroborated by. src-wom-w-1951-0501-making-success-marriage
Notes. The version of this passage that circulates on secondary sites carries two transcription errors: it reads 'his wifey organization' for 'his wifely organization' and 'so the man I the head over the woman' for 'so the man is the head over the woman'. The wording above is taken from the organisation's own library text. This is a Questions From Readers ruling, which in this period carried the weight of a direction to congregations.
Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-wom-w-1952-0415-qfr-hat-tipping