The Crisis of Modern Feminism in American Society

A friend sent me the following email:

This Jul/Aug 2012 article from The Atlantic is quite long, and nothing really earth-shattering, but a well-written and realistic piece nonetheless.  I'm about half way through it at the moment, and don't know if I'll continue reading, but it's fascinating to me how people who strive to overturn the natural order of family/society, still have to admit there are real differences between men and women -- the way they think, prioritize, assign value, make choices, etc., and that those realities retard the progress of the feminist agenda.  This lady's solutions are pretty unrealistic, but I'm sure they sound quite logical when viewed through the lens of her philosophical grid.

Why Women Still Can’t Have It All

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/07/why-women-still-cant-have-it-all/309020/?single_page=true

I responded:

I heard this woman interviewed on NPR about a year ago. I remember I had my wife listen to it and she was pretty irritated with her.

http://www.npr.org/2012/06/21/155498926/the-impossible-juggling-act-motherhood-and-work

I'm not sure why but there's been a lot of discussion along these lines as of late. It's a real crisis for women and many are quite bitter. They wait until they're well into their 30's to have children, sometimes struggle with fertility issues as a result, and then find being out of the loop for just a few years all but destroys their career progress. And yet if they throw that kid in daycare during those early years...a lot of guilt.

One of my wife’s friends from college recently tried to get back in her field which was video production. She actually worked on a couple of movies and television shows but at this point I think it's been about 10 years. I guess their third child is old enough now that she felt like she could get back into work and they need the money. In their case living in suburban Connecticut, they probably do. But...zero. Couldn't get anyone to even look at her.

Of course Europe has done much more to facilitate these types of situations, more favourable daycare set-ups, work release etc..., but again it doesn't really work very well. I really have no time at all for James Dobson but I'll grant him one thing...the family is the bedrock of society. Once it breaks, society begins to come apart. But that's as far as it goes. His further analysis and solutions are sociologically and theologically bankrupt.

The gospel can certainly remedy the situation but on another level it must be asked why even pagan societies have been able to function in the past? Even the pagan Roman Republic had a strong notion of the family. They certainly did in China and other cultures in the past as well.

Rather than view it strictly in terms of society 'abandoning' God...for that argument assumes the validity of Christendom and a definition of Christianity applied to society, I would view it instead in terms of cultural decadence. Empires become decadent. Wealth and the lifestyle empire affords become corrupting. People seek pleasure and a standard of living that is ultimately harmful to themselves and to society at large.

It's almost a 'Natural Law' of Providence. Once a society takes on that Bestial/Imperial character, it slits its own throat. It's sort of another application of the breaking up of Babel.

For non-conformists Christians there's a lot of pressure and guilt laid upon a wife who refuses to follow these paths. Other women will really look down on her and it's frustrating because in some cases she knows she could have been doing the same or better as they are but chose not to...and now they (fellow Christians) look down on her for it. It's humbling.

Most people aren't willing to take the hit to their income. And frankly if you live in an urban area, unless the husband makes a lot of money it may be impossible. Sometimes it's not about lifestyle, it's simply the overwhelming cost of real estate. Not too many people are willing to live in an old dump of a farmhouse like we do. If you live an area with cheap real estate, like we do, you can (for the most part) do alright, but I have work skills that let me survive in a rural area. A lot of people don't. And we do pay a terrible price living here. I calculated one time how much money we would save if we lived in town and I drove under 5 miles a day (running around between worksites and the store etc...). The savings were vast. We literally spend thousands more on gasoline, tires, brakes etc... because we live where we do and I end up driving well over 30,000 miles a year. We could find a house this inexpensive in some of the towns around here, but we'd be living in less than desirable neighbourhoods. I work in some of them at times. People screaming at each other in the street, squealing tires, drugs, monstrously destructive punk kids, stereos, barking dogs, nosy neighbours etc...etc...

I could be wrong and certainly people said the same in Britain in the 18th century, but I think this country is on the path of steep decline. This society is beginning to fragment and badly. There are many, one of the most interesting Robert Kaplan is a former writer for The Atlantic who write of America's cultural collapse and political fragmentation. The question is....when?

http://www.amazon.com/An-Empire-Wilderness-Travels-Americas/dp/0679776877

 

He's a bit of a Neo-Conservative but still quite interesting and much more thoughtful than most of that crowd.

While the feminist author's philosophical grid is indeed bankrupt it is in some ways understandable. For so many years this society had this Christian veneer and frankly women weren't always treated well or fairly. Feminism drove women into the workplace but economics did as well. Sometimes it was "keeping up with the Jones'" and other times it was people caught in the wrong places and unable to keep up with the rising cost of living.

Even from a Christian standpoint much that occurred wasn't really fair or just. If women are going to work, and you're going to hire them, you can't treat them poorly or unfairly. To expect unbelievers to tolerate the endless double standards and injustices is patently unrealistic. Why should they? Of course they're going to fight back. Of course they will be embittered by any attempt that prevents them from living their life to the 'fullest' and pursuing their vain quest for personal and social utopia.

I find it so interesting that feminism in Europe often takes on a bit of a different even softer form. It's certainly there, but because Europe was post-Christian when it arose women retained more femininity and it was 'in your face' in terms of its posture. Here, it has really produced a host of women that are to be blunt quite masculine, even the ones in high heels and business mini-skirt outfits. A generalization to be sure but it's something I've noticed. Feminism in America has produced the manly slut women on Fox News, provocatively dressed and yet masculine, aggressive, and loud. Many American women have confused sensuality with femininity and many (especially the under 35 crown) don't even know what femininity is.

It's funny that you raise these points. We just watched a movie called 'Queen To Play'... a great film set in modern day Corsica. It's about a woman who becomes obsessed with the game of Chess but it's about much more. My wife said it was in many ways a 'girl power' movie and yet it doesn't really come across that way and many could watch it and miss that. It sort of reminded me of the different nature of European feminism vis-à-vis the American variety. It's worth seeing if you're able to find it. We streamed it on Netflix.

I feel a great deal of sympathy for Christian women who are struggling with this. The Church has really failed to teach people to think Biblically and has failed to preach a gospel that teaches people to count the cost. Cheap Grace has reaped a whirlwind. The 'ministries' which emphasize Christian worldview often fail to exhibit wisdom and an ability to adapt to people's often difficult situations. They often have a rigid checklist approach which is definitely advantageous to them since what they're doing is often less about ministering to people than it is about recruiting soldiers for the culture war. The solution to feminism...the Christian life of humility, obedience, and self-denial...has been politicized and some follow along but don't understand why and do so with bitterness.