Dr. Couch, it seems as if feminism now rules our society, and in fact, the entire Western world. How did this happen?
Feminism always raises its ugly head when the
Bible is trashed by the culture. During the French Revolution (circa.
1770s) France proclaimed itself gender neutral. Everyone called each
other "citizen." In the French Congress, equality among the sexes ruled
in decision making. They even formed female army brigades, though this
did not last over several months. The women soon wanted to go home and
the idea of women "soldier-ettes" was abandoned. The French Revolution
was the first attempt at a form of Communism.
The Russian Revolution also pushed forward female
equality. Everyone was called "comrades." There were some women thrust
forward in combat roles during World War II but the girls were so mauled
in combat that this experiment soon died. The Russians stopped calling
for women in combat after the war. And, around the 1980s, there was a
revolt of the women of Russia because of the "equality" push. They went
home by the thousands, abandoning their equality jobs for home and
motherhood.
In America, with the 1960 and 1970 cultural
(communist-like) revolution, our nation went into a form of madness!
Whatever a girl wanted to do, she could not be held back. So we went to
the idea of police-etts, fireman-etts, combat soldier-etts. Secular
psychology ruled. Whatever gave the women self-fulfillment and
self-actualization, the government made us do. I can remember when the
phone companies were forced to call for women volunteers to be pole
climbers. They had to have a quota or the companies would be fined. The
cultural revolution changed the language. Remember, whoever controls the
language controls the culture.
Besides the fact that the importance of women at
home is destroyed, other issues come to play. Women have qualities that
the society, and the home, really need. For example, (1) Women are more
emotional—this is ideal for promoting love and raising children. (2) You
don’t put your women and mothers in harms way in combat positions. (3)
You don’t demean women by throwing them into the rough and tumble world
of male crudeness.
It is an unchanging fact, recognized by the army,
that physically women are on the average a foot shorter than men, have
fifty percent less strength and upper body strength, have about fifty
percent less stamina. Only about twenty percent of women can do
physically what a man can. But never mind! When the nation falls into a
lack of reality, and away from biblical truth, these facts are ignored.
I asked my wife, Dr. Lacy Couch, who has counseled
for over twenty years why women would want to abandon their homes for
the job market, go into the military, push themselves into more work
roles that are traditionally male oriented. She pondered this question
for years but just recently came up with the answer, based on her
long-time experience in working with women. She said, "They don’t like
themselves as women!" I think she is right. Also, they want to prove
something. I remember my wife talking with a 110 lb. Christian girl who
wanted to become a police-ette. Lacy concluded to join the police force
this was not really in her heart but she had been brainwashed that she
had to prove something!
Women in America have been told that home-making
is demeaning, raising children is a waste of time, but there is
something more. Often women enjoy the "male" attention they can get in
the work world. They have been brainwashed from the first grade all the
way through college that they have to be something else besides a woman!
For Christian women, in my opinion, this entire
problem is a spiritual one. A Christian woman is not a waste in God’s
plans. She sets both a moral and practical example for her children. By
bringing about the blessings of a warm and peaceful home, she does more
for her husband than she can imagine.
The apostle Paul sets forth what is precious about
the role of a Christian woman. He puts forth practical ideas that are
also spiritual in nature. He writes, "I want a women to adorn themselves
with proper clothing, modesty and discreetly, not with braided hair and
gold or pearls or costly garments; but rather by means of good works,
as befits women making a claim to godliness" (1 Tim. 2:9-10).
Paul is not mentioning dress or jewelry because
this is the way prostitutes dressed but because he did not want
Christian women to be "showy" or ostentatious in their dress. A woman
can dress stylishly but still avoid attracting too much attention to
herself. The apostle Peter also wants a woman to have a gentle and quiet
spirit; she is not to be loud, pushy, harsh, and crude (1 Pet. 3:4).
Many women today want to compete with the men.
They abandon their homes, their children, for the rough and tumble work
world. They think this is what they are supposed to do to uphold "the
sisterhood" of women. They think they would be considered "less than" if
they give themselves to their home. This of course is just the opposite
of what the Lord wants. Young women are "to be sensible, pure, workers
at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, that the word of God
may not be dishonored" (Titus 2:5).
On the issue of pushing women into more and more
combat roles in the military I suggest a fairly new book that is a
"must" read: Men, Women & War, Martin Van Creveld (Cassel
& Co., 2001). I was impressed that the author opened his book with
Proverbs 11:16: "A gracious woman retains honor."
Thanks for asking.
Dr. Mal Couch
