Feminism as defined by Betty Friedan is a crock and is incompatible with Christianity. Authentic femininity should be embraced. The problem with the feminist movement is that it taught women that in order to show that we are worth as much as men, we must act like men. That’s false. We’re already worth as much in the eyes of God, and our roles as mothers, wives, and daughters are just as important, albeit different, than the roles of men. All going out into the workforce does is diminish the role of motherhood and hurt children. Children are no longer thought of as important enough to be a full time job, unless it’s for a daycare worker being paid to do it.
I am not saying that men never did anything to warrant a negative reaction in women. Certainly many societies treated women as property and undervalued our God-given dignity. However, the approach to remedy these attitudes was just as bad and has ultimately proven more destructive. I have trouble believing that men treated women as badly as they do today when they thought of them as simple like children. Now it’s our fault if we get pregnant and a man is considered responsible if he offers to pay for the abortion instead of marry a woman to protect her reputation.
I think people are uncomfortable with saying women should be submissive and that is unfortunate. We are all called to be submissive to God. Submission is a good thing, when it’s to the right thing. A family can only have one head. A woman is called to be the heart. A body cannot live without either organ or with two of one and none of the other. Saint Paul tells men to love their wives because men sort of need to be trained into showing loving gestures and not taking us for granted. He tells women to submit to your husbands because our defect as women is a tendency toward shrewish disrespect of our beloved’s inherent dignity as a man. Then he tells us that our bodies are not our own, that a man’s is his wife’s and vice versa. There is to be mutual self-giving, obviously in things physical, but also in other areas. I think when it boils down to important decisions that a man should be given final say as the head. If you don’t trust him to make important decisions, why did you marry him?
Incidentally, God revealed Himself as Father through Jesus because he wants us to have a loving familial relationship with Him, but also because He wants the dignity and authority of the role of Father respected. Feminism from Betty Friedan does nothing to explain a healthy relationship with man as father or husband or son. It teaches of man as oppressor.
With all due respect, SoCal, your arguments seems as fruity as the Napa Valley. There is nothing wrong with traditional gender roles, and if they were meant to be the same, God would have stopped with Adam. There’s something unique about woman, and she is from God, so it is good. Let’s focus on the uniqueness of man and woman instead of the false compassion of androgyny.
My son seems to be doing just fine, thankyouverymuch…and while it can be pretty hard on occasion being a single parent (my husband and I are separated, we live in different states) for the most part, it’s been pretty OK, and I am very lucky to have a career to be able to live ok without any support from any one else
:clapping::
