Chapter 3, You've Come a Long Way, Baby! by Mary Kassian

This third chapter in the book Voices of the True Woman Movement is a stunning overview by Mary Kassian of how far women have come in the last 50 years. Unfortunately, a long way isn't necessarily a good or right way! She reminds the reader that up until the middle of the last century, Western culture as a whole generally embraced a Judeo-Christian perspective on gender and sexuality issues, as well as the purpose and structure of the family. Having been a teenager in the early 60's, I can attest to that. It wasn't that there weren't sin issues, for there certainly were, but for the most part, everyone agreed on what was right and what was wrong, even if the right wasn't always followed. Differences between male and female were accepted and seldom questioned at that time and most understood the appropriate outworking of gender roles and relationships. But, to quote Mary, we've "come a long way, baby." She reminds us of the cultural image of women in the 1950's as represented by various TV shows, such as Leave it to Beaver. Real-life observations from the 50's included: getting married was the norm, usually in the early 20's; most couples then had children and the husband was the primary breadwinner for the family; the divorce rate was low; sex outside of marriage was shameful; couples rarely "lived together" outside of marriage; having a child out of wedlock was considered shameful; only 30% of all women were employed outside the home; there was no birth control pill; abortion was illegal; men saw it as their responsbility to protect and provide for their families; women saw it as their responsibility to support their husbands and focus on raising their children in a stable, nurturing, loving environment. How things have changed since then! She shows the progression as expressed in other TV sitcoms. The Mary Tyler Moore Show in the 1970's depicted the first independent, attractive career woman as the central character, with the focus being on her career. In the 1980's, we were introduced to Murphy Brown, a loud-mouthed, brash, driven, self-assured, self-absorbed, and highly opinionated fictional journalist and news anchor. She was a divorcee and a proud atheist. During the series, she became pregnant but chose not to marry the father. Then enter Ellen in the midnineties--a women who owned her own independent bookstore, lived with a man, though the relationship was platonic. Over time, it was revealed that she was a lesbian (on camera and off!), and this was to be accepted without judgment. "From children's cartoons to television series to movies, women in popular media are now portrayed as having an 'in charge, don't-need-a-guy, I'm-powerful, traditional-marriage-and-family-morals-are-outdated, I-have-the-right-rule, how-dare-you-tell-me-what-to-do' mentality." She asserts that we've now been thoroughly indoctrinated with the message that when it comes to relationships, women can make their own rules. Who are we to judge? A recent popular sitcom, Sex and the City, is the epitome of this mind-set. Also, in this new worldview, men are depicted as whiny, needy, not too bright, and totally unreliable. Thus Mary shows how in a few short decades, (her lifetime as well as mine!) the ideal of a happy, fulfilled woman has gone from one who values and serves her children, her husband, and her community, to one who serves and exalts herself, sees men as dispensable, and considers children to be optional.

So how did we get here from there? The author asserts that feminism as a distinct philosophy is what shook the underpinnings of society in the early 1960's like a tsunamic earthquake shaking the ocean's floor. This is much more than just a cultural phenomenon of women's rights. Rather it is a distinct worldview with its own ideologies, values, and ways of thinking. Whether we realize it or not, feminism is a philosophy that has profoundly affected virtually every person alive in the Western world today. We have to know where we've come from and how we got to this point to be able to determine where we go from here. She affirms that this is the Biblical way of approaching history. Her desire is that God will raise up a holy generation of women in our day--women who understand our times, but who hold the truth, clarity, and charity of the Word of God in their hands and are willing to stand up for it.

So how did this philosophy of feminism develop and become so integrated into our culture? Geopolitically, the world of the 1950's was witnessing an era of revolution with a fight for individual rights. About this time, a female French philosopher proposed that modern society was also in need of a revolution in gender roles. In the late 1950's, American political activist and journalist Betty Friedan picked up on this thinking and began interviewing dozens of women, asking about their level of happiness and fulfillment in their marriages, etc. In her resulting book, she asserted that women were not happy and fulfilled, but rather feeling empty, and yearned for something more. She suggested that women begin to question, challenge, and rebel against the accepted role of wife and mother, and traditional morality. She asserted that women needed education, career, and work of "serious importance to society." "According to feminism, the only hope for woman's happiness and self-fulfillment lay in rejecting a male-defined, Judeo-Christian worldview." Thus woman set her foot on a path that would rapidly take her--and ultimately the whole of society--in a direction diametrically opposed to the heart and purposes and ways of God. These writings quickly gained popularity among American women. Feminist author Kate Millett, in the late 1960's, named "patriarchy" as the problem. It was used to describe both the dominance of the male as well as the inferiority and subservience of the female. This meant that for woman to gain equality, every aspect of belief and culture would need to be changed. "Only in breaking free from traditional Judeo-Christian roles and rules would woman find meaning and self-fulfillment."

Mary goes on to describe the first phase of feminism: women claiming the right to name themselves, to redefine their own existence. Their goal was to become more like men. New groups, such as NOW, sprung up, which led to lobbying for the feminist agenda, and eventually resulted in the Equal Rights Amendment. "Consciousness raising" began as small groups of women gathered together and were encouraged to vent their bitterness and unhappiness. Feminism spread even more by the power of word-of-mouth. By 1970, 20,000 women marched proudly down New York's Fifth Avenue, identifying themselves as part of the women's liberation movement. Then came the explosion of woman-centered analysis and women's studies in the 1970's. Educators began to modify kindergarten books, grade-school curricula, etc. to reflect a feminist worldview. "The values and beliefs of feminism began to be presented in newspapers, periodicals, newscasts, and television programming." By the end of the 70's, feminism had influenced every member of society, and by the 1980's, a second phase began when even God was renamed as "she", rather than He. New Age philosophy, Wicca, and goddess worship are all expressions of the feminist spirituality that arose in the 80's and 90's. "According to feminism, each woman is her own goddess, part of the elemental, female creative power of the universe."

Contrary to the message of the Bible, feminism teaches that women ought not to bow down and submit to any external power. But the Bible teaches otherwise. God created us--male and female. He intended there to be essential difference for a reason, and these differences are to be honored as part of God's great design. By refusing to honor this, we are claming the right to define our own existence. God's word says though: But who are you, O man, to talk back to God?"Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, 'Why did you make me like this?'" Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use? (Romans 9:20-21 NIV) God fashioned the two sexes differently for glorious purposes--the primary one to teach us about the relationship between ourselves as God's people (the church) and Christ.

So what's the answer to all of this--what is going to bring women happiness and fulfillment and joy in their lives? Is it returning to the 1950's--looking for the perfect man to make one happy? Or is it relying on the feminist formula for fulfillment--freedom to do whatever we want, whenever we want? Neither will ultimately satisfy. Even finding the "perfect man" and being a wife and mother cannot satisfy our deepest needs. They can only be fulfilled as we turn to the One for whom we were created--the Lord Jesus Christ--and say "yes!" to Him. Mary ends this chapter by saying that the heart of true womanhood is to understand and agree with the purposes of our Creator. A woman is a true woman when her heart says yes to God. Feminism promised women happiness and fulfillment, but hasn't delivered. Today's women are still searching for answers. And the answer is in embracing the gospel of Jesus Christ and a Biblical understanding of manhood, womanhood, and gender relationships. "The time is ripe for a new movement--a seismic, holy quake of countercultural Christian women who dare to take God at His Word, who have the courage to stand against the popular tide, choosing to believe and delight in God's plan for male and female."