Tuesday, August 18, 2015

The Undermining of Marriage in the 1950's





This is not a pleasant subject but I think it is important for Christians to know how a happy home life is undermined by falsehoods that are deliberately spread around to reduce our faith in the Biblical design for the family. Many sources went to work to dismantle this perfect arrangement. 


I have just read a blog article called "Divorce is Dumb" that explains in detail how marriage was undermined by the malcontents  in the 1950's.  A quote from this essay is pasted below:


"In the 1950's...Christian family life was well represented, and well-respected, on television and in magazines.  In addition, advertisers, radio shows, large corporations, and manufacturers embraced the glee and reinforced the happiness that millions of young married couples were experiencing. In retrospect, the 1950s were truly America’s “Happy Days.”

The article explains how women desired marriage as the highest thing they could ever achieve in life, and married women were greatly admired.



The author goes on to say,

"But for those who’d made bad choices, or were brought up in non-Christian homes or were incapable of finding personal happiness, the domestic bliss of the 1950s was grating. The happiness of the masses served only to magnify their personal shortcomings.  And so, in the midst of all this gladness, these people quietly began to sow the seeds of discontent. Subtly, they initiated an effort to convince the happy Christian suburban families, and the country at large, that their happiness was all an illusion."

The essay continues:

"New ideas began to take shape, aided by the movie industry in particular, which insinuated themselves into the subconscious minds of the joyful masses. Those who promoted the ideas asserted that just beneath the happy surface, lay the “real” truth – that Christian men were actually wretched, calculating, unbalanced, mean people with bad thoughts. Of course the truth was just the opposite. The conclusions drawn by these paranoid proponents of the dysfunctional family were in fact a reflection of their neuroses, and unhappy family lives, rather than a reflection of the sincerely happy masses of American Christian families.

Initially, books were written, and plays were produced, promoting the unsettling idea that behind the pleasant façade of suburbia lay a disturbing psychosis. These “proponents of pain” were, under the pretext of “entertainment”, supposedly exposing women to the “truth” about the “harsh realities” of the “dysfunctional” men in their midst, when in fact, it was based on their own individually depleted lives. Their personal lives did not reflect the vast majority of Christian people’s lives.

The personal demons that “inspired” the writings of these deviant authors began with F. Scott Fitzgerald (alcoholic), John Steinbeck (alcohol abuser), Earnest Hemingway (committed suicide), and Eugene O’Neill (suffered depression and alcoholism), and continued with William Faulkner (alcoholic and adulterer), Arthur Miller (communist and abandoned his retarded child), and J. D. Salinger (recluse and religious fanatic).

The traditional advice given to new writers, “Write about what you know”, was taken down to new depths of depravity by these writers, as they did just that."

To read the entire essay, click on the the link I provided at the beginning of this post, "divorce is dumb." It shows how people desire to break up marriages.

All this craziness that surrounds us can get overwhelming but when you educate yourself on the beginnings of it, it is easier to understand and to warn your children.

All is not lost, however, as there are always writers and teachers who promote happiness and marriage through their literature.  There are always blaring reports of divorce everywhere but there is a quiet side of life that patiently continues to carry the good messages and the good examples. 





11 comments:

Logan'sLops said...

Really enjoyed reading this, and the one from a few days ago about the Amish movie. I read your blog over a cup of tea when my children are napping and I really enjoy the few minutes of break before I get back to laundry and making dinner. I enjoy your articles about serious issues, but I also enjoy the little "visits" where you simply report on a seeing project or what you did that week. Thank you for your writing. Jennifer

anonymous said...

"Misery loves company" is an old saying and so true.
You have given us another tool of defense for our marriages. I shall pass this along. To be forewarned is to be fore-armed.

Thank you Lydia for your time and efforts.
Blessings, Janet.

Anonymous said...

Dear Lady Lydia,

To quote a line from your post: "All is not lost, however, as there are always writers and teachers who promote happiness and marriage through their literature."

Dearest Lydia, you have been that writer and teacher for me. Your writing and wisdom have changed me, my marriage and the life of my family. I am no longer at the mercy of feminist propaganda, and I see it very clearly for what it is. Nothing I could write would ever be enough to thank you for your guidance and encouragement to be the best wife and mother I can be. And to feel such happiness and contentment while doing so.

Yours Sincerely,
Mara.

Lydia said...

Mara,

I am not sure I have been responsible for a great deal, but I do promote books and movies that reinforce love and marriage and give people confidence. The recent movie "Love Finds You in Charm" plays out like real life is supposed to: a girl gets married and has a baby and takes care of her husband and her house. It teaches contentment in the thing that really matters. This was denigrated by the feminists in the 1950's and I even remember high school classes that taught marriage was a cop-out, an unintelligent life, and having children was a waste of time. Someone comment d here recently that the current generation of young people are rejecting feminist hatred of the home and trying to go back to the old paths of cari g for the home, having a husband to love, and children. Thankfully there are now a lot of blogs that teach this, from older women. Let's pray God grants these ladies a long and successful life of teaching these things.

Lydia said...

The malcontents the author mentioned were called "The Lost Generation" of the 1920s, writers who thought Christian marriage was too restrictive. They all went to Paris to live a lifestyle unrestrained by Biblical values that were so strong at home. They then proceeded to get their books published and their films promoted to give people the idea that home life was really a big lie and everyone should live as they please, regardless of children that needed a stable home.

Lydia said...

Also, that movement to destroy faith in marriage created problems within marriage because there were both men and women who grew up in a divorced lifestyle and brought the mentality into marriage, where they practiced a type of separation that denied the oneness of their union. It said that marriage was just two people living together but made them unaccountable to one another, living separate lives, and using children to create friction. It was like being divorced. It was the modernist aim to divide people in marriage. Even if they couldn't divorce.

Mrs. Bill said...

Thank you Lady Lydia for this excellant post. I went on to read the full essay. It is painful for me to read this topic because I have eleven grandchildren, seven of whom are boys. In light of the dreadful changes in our culture concerning women and the way men are portrayed, I worry very much about the boys. Two of them are already married and my husband and I pray for them daily. They have been raised to be open to life and are tenderhearted toward children. We can only hope that things will work out for them.

I have kept a copy of an old poem about an ordinary man's hopes and dreams of family. Do men still think this way?

http://myhearthandhome.blogspot.com/2013/06/manly-sentiments-from-generations-past.html

Anonymous said...

Hello Mrs Lydia,

I just wanted to say how your blog has helped me so much as a young true Christian woman who is born again by the blood of Jesus Christ, saved as a lost, wicked sinner that I was. I am a young wife and your blog and the articles you wrote on biblical womanhood and modesty along with the King James Bible which is God's true word has been a true blessing to me! It allowed me to see my purpose as a woman and a wife before God!

Thank you for this article. I too believed growing up "that a true happy marriage" is a facade. Thank you for helping me to understand where this line of thinking stemmed from and bringing the wickedness of men to light.

Susan said...

I am a little late to comment here but I wanted to say that the article that Lady Lydia refers to here is a fascinating read on the history of divorce in our society. I grew up in the 50's and was convinced that being a career woman was the only choice in life and that a housewife was not a useful career. This was the prevailing attitude even in a mostly conservative Christian community. All four of us children ended our marriages in divorce. Although I now support mothers at home and am happily married, I deeply regret the choices I made. My career was not fulfilling in the way that a family can be and now in my 50's I can only advise others and support young women in their choice to become a homemaker. There is no better or more important career in this world.

Lydia said...

Susan I remember the teachers and peers saying what a trivial thing marriage was, and everyone who said that came from a broken home.

Ms.Tierra said...

Hi Lady Lydia! I was so glad to see you had read this article and reviewed it. I read it also before I read this post. So it is interesting and fun to see how Godly women find each other online and support each other. Blessings, hope to speak with you again soon. Peace :)