“The American woman of today is not very different from her mother or grandmother. She is equally attached to the classic feminine values – sexual attractiveness, motherly devotion, and the nurturing role in home and community affairs. She is not a great figure in public life or the professions. And like most men, she is repelled by the slogans of old-fashioned feminism.” This was in “Harpers Magazine” in October of 1962. Women of this time were rejecting feminism of the 1920s and went back to the biblical roles for them. Single motherhood was less than 10 percent at this time.
Ponder this for a minute with me, women. Women wanted the feminine values of marriage, mothering, and homemaking. This was their heart’s desire. They wanted to nurture as God created them to do so. They had no desire to be great figures in the public (preachers, politicians, influencers, or “have a voice”) or have careers. They wanted to be home where they belonged, and they were allowed to want and do these things. No questions asked.
Then Betty Friedan came along and wrote this in her book “The Feminine Mystique” in 1963:
“A massive attempt must be made by educators and parents, ministers, magazine editors, manipulators, guidance counselors to stop the early-marriage movement, stop girls from growing up wanting to be ‘just a housewife,’ stop it by insisting with the same attention from childhood on that parents and educators give to boys, that girls develop the resources of self, goals that will permit them to find their own identity.”
And women fell for this propaganda hook, line, and sinker. When I went through high school in the 70s and was asked by the guidance counselor what I wanted to be, I was forced to state a career even though I didn’t want one. Everyone fell for the “what if” scenario. “Women must have careers to fall back on!” After all, we had goals and dreams we needed to achieve and somehow find our own identity in all of this.
I never fell for this. My goals and dreams were to be a wife, mother, and homemaker. I found my identity in Jesus Christ. Being in the workforce was terrible. It was the last place I wanted to be, but I was made to feel guilty for not being in the workforce. Now, single motherhood stands at about 40 percent. Do you know why? Women leaving their homes for the workforce.
Women are now too tired to be their husband’s help meets. They’re too tired to mother their own children. They’re too tired to cook healthy food for their families. They invested all of their time into their careers. They’re trapped in their careers from their debt and from the good money they make. Marriages fall apart, and children are being raised without the discipline, instruction, and nurture from a mother home full time, and a father living with them. Many women in their 50s bemoan falling for the feminist agenda while they grow old alone with their cats or dogs. Don’t be one of them, women.
I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.
1 Timothy 5:14
https://thetransformedwife.com/stopping-the-early-marriage-movement/