I've been seeing some things online about why women should not be altar servers, lectors, Eucharistic ministers, or otherwise be on the altar. I just read this post on Facebook:

Why Tradition Holds That Women Do Not Go Behind the Altar
(While Acknowledging What Is Permitted Today)
Within the Roman Catholic Church, the question of women going behind the altar—even to read Scripture—is not primarily about capability, dignity, or holiness. Rather, it is about sacramental symbolism, apostolic tradition, and the meaning of the sanctuary itself.
1. The Sanctuary Is Not Merely Functional
Traditionally, the sanctuary (the area behind the altar) is understood as a sacred space set apart for the offering of the Sacrifice of the Mass. The altar represents Christ Himself, and the actions performed there are not simply practical tasks but visible signs of invisible realities.
For most of Church history, access to this space was restricted to those who exercised a role directly connected to the altar and to Holy Orders.
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2. Reading at Mass Was Historically a Clerical Function
For centuries, the role of lector was not a lay ministry but a minor clerical order, one of the steps toward the priesthood. Because Holy Orders have always been reserved to men, these ministries were likewise male and carried out within the sanctuary.
This is not because women were seen as unworthy, but because the ministry itself belonged to the clerical state.
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3. Sacramental Symbolism: Christ and His Church
Catholic theology is deeply symbolic and sacramental. The priest does not act in his own person, but in persona Christi—in the person of Christ the Bridegroom offering Himself for His Bride, the Church.
For this reason:
• Men in the sanctuary symbolize Christ’s sacrificial headship
• Women symbolically represent the Church receiving that sacrifice
This same symbolic logic explains why:
• Women cannot be priests
• Women cannot be deacons
• And, in traditional practice, women do not enter the sanctuary to perform liturgical roles
These realities are not interchangeable, because the sacraments express divine truth through visible signs, not through modern categories of equality or functionality.
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4. What Changed—and What Did Not
Following the Second Vatican Council, the Church permitted lay people to serve in certain roles that were once clerical, including reading Scripture at Mass. Over time, this permission was extended to women as extraordinary (non-instituted) lectors.
It is important to note:
• This change is disciplinary, not doctrinal
• It does not redefine Holy Orders
• It does not change the Church’s understanding of the sanctuary
• What is permitted is not the same as what is traditional
Thus, while women may read at Mass today according to current permissions, the traditional symbolism remains unchanged.
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5. Why Traditional Catholics Maintain the Older Practice
Those who follow traditional practice do so because they believe:
• The sanctuary should visually reflect eternal theological truths
• Blurring sanctuary roles weakens understanding of the priesthood
• Maintaining clear symbolism protects the Church’s sacramental language
For them, a woman not going behind the altar is not exclusion, but fidelity to a theology that treats liturgy as sacred action, not public participation.
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In Summary
• The Church permits women to read at Mass today
• Tradition explains why this was never the norm
• The reason is sacramental symbolism, not sexism
• The same theological foundation explains:
• Why women cannot be priests
• Why women cannot be deacons
• Why women traditionally do not enter the sanctuary
• Respectful disagreement exists within the Church, but tradition has an internal logic that remains coherent and intact

A couple of questions arise:

1. Where would the Church be if women didn't serve in these traditional male capacities?

2. Where do the men go when the women do step up? (Do the women step up because the men won't? Or do the men leave because a woman is here to do it, now?)

I've been told that if a parish wants a strong group of altar boys, they have to get rid of the altar girls. As soon as you start introducing girls into the dynamic the boys begin to vanish back into the pews.

It's funny how women perceive being in the pews as "bad, and we should be able to serve," and yet the men seem to perceive that being in the pews is "just fine, takes something off of my plate and I can just relax at Mass."

The women see not being able to serve as being deprived and discriminated against, and men see not having to serve as an excuse to just chill. But that is backwards from God's Order and it effeminates (effeminizes?) the men.

We live in a world, now, where women have taken over where men have failed, where women have steamrolled into male order essentially shoving the men into passivity, and now we're at a point where women are expected to carry both torches.

As I deal with navigating health issues and changes in my own life I'm having to look at the big picture and figure out what needs to be prioritized. So often I think, "I would do so much better if I could just focus on doing what a wife and mom needs to do." Adding all these "masculine" things on top of having to maintain the feminine is EXHAUSTING and then I end up doing neither well.

I think what makes women serving have this underlying waft of the stink of evil is that it is rooted in the idea that whatever roles and orders God has given women are "bad." We've wrapped up the serving in pretty wrapping paper and convinced ourselves we can serve the Lord this way, but I sometimes wonder if Christ would accept that gift or reveal it for what it really is.

Of course I believe many women serve with sincerity. I know I do/have. But, more and more I feel like I've had something taken away from me, not only by modern ideologies in the Church, but by society at large. And it sickens me that what God intended for women is considered, even by practicing Catholics, to be "bad" and something we need to step away from and overcome.

And then we wonder where have all the men gone and why are our children leaving the faith. If you put things out of order, how do you expect it to work?!