Wednesday, June 15, 2011

The Flipside of Feminism


A Cottage Garden in Full View
by Val Norman




Feminist occasionally try to make a point about the use of modern inventions by homemakers: driving a car, using a computer, publishing books, having a home or cottage industry, earning money with personal talent such as art, crafts, etc., and so forth. Their claim is that without feminism, women would not be allowed to read, write, drive, or conduct business.

 I have always answered that the feminist movement was never needed. Their claim of being responsible for all these privileges is false.  These things were enjoyed by women long before the 20th century feminist movement.

 From a Biblical perspective, Christ freed women and made them "heirs together" in the grace of life. 1st Peter 3:7.  The only liberator women need is Christ, and they do not need liberation from their duties as guardians of the home. Discontent at home, feminists insist that women need not use their talents for the family, but should make their mark outside of the home.   This has done great harm to the home and the family, as it indoctrinates  young women not to desire the honor of being wives, mothers and homemakers.

The best way to make your mark outside the home is to do a good job inside the home. Good works from the home never go unnoticed and do create a reputation for the home.

In tiher book, "The Flip Side of Feminism" by Suzanne Venker and  Phyllis Schlafly, Phyllis addresses this same comment, stating that feminism never helped her succeed in anything.  You can view her speaking about it on a video here. It is also imbedded at the end of this post.


One thing I have not seen addressed much  is the constant mockery that prevails toward the homemaker, and especially the Biblical homemaker who desires to home school, make her own bread, grow a garden, sew clothes, and create a home life for their loved ones.  Those who promote feminism have to first break down the things that stand in their way, and this is seen in the amount of derision, deriding and despising that is aimed at this honorable and Biblically approved life. 

The concept  of  the pedestal has been scorned to such an extent that these days, no one dares to mention it in regard to the reputation men and women must uphold in their own spheres. One chapter in "The Flip Side of Feminism, titled "The Pedestal," states that women need to get off men's pedestal, and get back on their own.  Helen Andelin made this concept more widely known, when she wrote that the women needed to stay in their feminine role. She warned that sometimes people would try to shake her pedestal and want to bring them down to their level, away from her lofty position as wife, mother and guide of the home.

My own belief is that God gave women a wonderful way to live through His Word which teaches them to take charge of the home.  There is plenty to do at home for the young, even without children, and when they become older, they should be teaching others about the things they just finished doing. One stage of life prepares them for the next. Young women must learn to keep house, practice it and become good at it, and when they are older, show the younger women how to do it. The trials and errors of homemaking, child-rearing and marriage prepare women to be teachers of good things. Even a woman who has learned from her mistakes can be a good teacher, as she attempts to help the next generation to have good judgement.

In His wisdom and perfection, God created the most natural way of life for women. If this is the right way, why then, do women worry that it is not enough, that it will not work, that it will give them no rights, or that it will not be possible?  Why do women listen the world advising them to have "back-up-plans," or "something to fall back on"?  Does God's word need a back up plan?  Women need instead to back-up God's plan by putting it into practice.  Yes, in a sense, we need back-up plans, but they should be re-enforcements, not substitutes. When you want to keep the wind from blowing away your soil, you plant trees and shrubs around it. When you want to stay home, you find ways of doing it, and ways of proving that it works. I repeat: we need to back up the plan God already gave us in Titus 2, Ist Timothy 5:14 and others.

Proverbs 31 seems complicated and exhausting, but in the New Testament, the last will and testament of Christ, which is our spiritual authority today, the role of a woman is much simplified, and it is for her own peace. It gives about three main things for the woman in the church of Christ, to do: marriage, raising children and keeping house. This is reinforced in several different passages as guiding the home, guarding the home, training children, respecting the husband, and having a quiet and gentle spirit. One way to acquire that quiet and gentle spirit is to limit your activities to just the important ones that are given in the Bible: the care of the home and the guiding of the family.

 God knows the nature of women and the danger of being over loaded with the worries of this world, and wisely allows her to be a home, where she can choose how she will look after it, what talents she will pursue, and how her children will be trained. In order to retain the quiet and gentle spirit, a woman must not take on the role of a man.




Fully embracing and enjoying the role at home is not dependent on money, as feminists would make us believe. Read my comment about one of the gods of this age, the economy, which women submit to as an excuse to leave their homes and families and pursue wages, on The Thinking Housewife.

38 comments:

Lydia said...

One inconsistency in the belief that feminism was needed is on the controversial subject of women working. On one hand they say women were not allowed to work, so they needed the feminist movement to give them jobs. On the other hand, they are now claiming that all women worked in the past centuries (you know, plowing, and working in the fields). So if they all worked already, what is their point?

Jenny Cross said...

Great Post! Thanks for sharing this.

JennyMay

Anonymous said...

I love this post!

It is so true, about women at home being on a pedestal. Feminism wants you to believe you are lower than men, when in fact, you've been elevated on a pedestal by being a keeper at home.

It reminds me of a scene in one of my favorite movies "A Man Called Peter", when Catherine (Peter Marshall's future bride) makes a speech at a rally about how women have been knocked from their pedestals to be equal with men.

I hope it's OK to post the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAE8fOxQuxA

P.S.: Catherine is dressed wearing the most lovely outfit. I would like to make that dress someday!

Jane

Lydia said...

Jane,

Thank you for the link. Catherine was quoting part of one of Peter Marshall's own sermons when she said women had been pulled down to a lower level when they sought the right to smoke, the right to drink, the right to swear and the right to dress like men. They were higher than that, before they demanded the right to do all those things. I cannot see where rights got any woman anywhere. They are better off with the rights given them by Christ, through His Word: the right to be keepers at home.

Anonymous said...

Lydia,

The thing that the millitant feminists wantonly miss here is the fact that women have ALWAYS utilized the technology of the day in every era. Feminism has not brought women this 'right'; for it is merely a part of life. I could write at length on this matter and related issues, but those young women (who have not had the experience of life upon this earth) and some older who should jolly well know better, have adopted a manner of arrogance and hubris that is as totalitarian as the imagined ills against which they rail the 'revolutionary' adopts a form of intolerance far worse than that which they are seeking to supposedly 'remedy'.

This is born out by an incredible quote from a theologian whose work I am currently reading (who has a thing or two to say about atheism also); This quote is so descriptive of the trajectory taken by feminists and other revolutionaries that I present it in full here, thanks to the insight of the fine Mr. O'Donnell...

"in a masterly study of revolution, the philosopher Hannah Arendt raised the question how one can prevent the revolutionaries from devouring their own children. In almost every instance of revolution, the protagonists, when they come to power, soon impose a new form of dictatorship with repression of liberties and censorship, all in the name of the people." my own words following, in a bid to shore up the 'freedom for the people' for which they are supposedly striving, they impose re- a forced social re-engineering and oppression in the name of liberal ideology that has become a monster far worse than the supposed oppressive 'old regime'...and they are utterly blind to see the hypocracy of their ways! .

Lydia, you are standing bravely against this hostile paradox of 'liberal oppression', for they do oppress - and the state of the second becomes far worse than the supposed state of the first (remember jesus Parable about the demon possessed man, house swept clean when he is rid of the first demon, only to be re-inhabited by said demon a second time - along with half a dozen of his friends!!)...

If even liberal philosophers and theologians can see this disturbing pattern, then the trolls who give you grief ought to reflect upon their own disgraceful behaviour and reform accordingly, because they have become Orwellian minions - acting with the same spirit of the Maoist Youth of the Chinese cultural revolution who would disown and sell out their own mothers if it meant party and ideological purity in their (and the party's) thinking...

Keep speaking the truth, Lydia, and continue to stand in the gap with your much needed blog ministry. Would it be that I could have just an hour with you face to face over tea - a privelege that I pray God deigns to afford me.

Anonymous said...

Lydia,

the goal-post shifting of the feminist ideology that has characterised the 'work' issue is needed as people have woken up to their distorting of the truth and the incorrect assertion that their movement was needed to give women work rights'. Upon having been caught out red handed, they have had to amend their party line to equate the practices of the family sphere in relation to the home, home-centred ecconomy etc to fit and validate their ajenda. supposed 'rites' to live just like a man are not rights at all, but follies! I pray the Holy Spirit will blaze across your land and mine, re-animating souls for Christ, as almost a century of night can be bypassed....that we do not go 'back to the past', but forward to God's ordained freedom for Christian women, and God's salvation for all! the dead dry bones of Western Christianity that have mouldered in the dust shall be ressurected and made new...let us pray that the era of the liberal 'dark age' is coming to an end. I pray that the culture of death would be soon consigned to the dustbin of history, a mere memory of the age in which humanity lost its way comprehensively, whilst deceiving themselves that they were infact wiser than any who had come before them (a definition of hubris if ever there was one - postmodern tech toys do not a civilization make).

Lydia said...

Mrs. Eliot in Australia, Thank you for the two previous comments.

Feminism was a lie, orchestrated to remove women from their homes, so the state could raise the children, and taxes could be extracted from their paychecks to support immoral wars and anti-family government programs, government schools, and so forth. Karl Marx wrote that women contributed nothing to the world if they were at home. He thought they should all work in factories.

Anonymous said...

When Catherine made that search Jane at 2:14pm mentioned, I thought it is perfect for even today. The first time I heard it I cheered! What good speech!! I would like to see what a libber had to say after hearing it! :) Thank you Lady Lydia for stating the truth. Sarah

Far Above Rubies said...

Lady Lydia, as always thank you for being that Titus woman in my life.

I always leave here encouraged and renewed in my role as wife, mother, and homemaker. God is truly good and faithful.

I love when you said "We don't need a back up plan - we need to back up God's plan."

Well put!!!

Blessings,


Jasmine

Miss Linda said...

What a wonderful post, thank you so much for alerting us to this book and for sharing your thoughts on this very important subject.

Anonymous said...

Lady Lydia, I've done a self-directed search on WWII and the role of homemakers during that time, specifically in the matter of food, rationing, coping, etc. It was extremely disconcerting to see how the government literally pushed women OUT of the home to fulfill work requirements for manufacturing, etc., yet still "encouraging" them to keep the home! A very mixed message for sure. THEN when the war was over, BOOM the women were given pink slips and told to go home, but I cannot find documentation of encouragement given to them of "returning to their rightful place" or any words to that effect. This was in the 1940s, and of course feminism was around long before that, but I have often wondered if the lack of returning-home encouragement wasn't a major factor that just exploded in the 1960s? It makes me very sad.

Kathleen in IL

Anonymous said...

Lady Lydia, another thought. I "grew up" in the 1960s, and I well remember my father saying he hoped I would find a good man to "take care of" me, but also facing that most eligible young men wanted me to be able to work and support the household along with them. My (ahem) first husband decided that while he greatly enjoyed my working and the $ that I brought home, I was also supposed to be the homemaker that his mother was, and did not acknowledge the impossibility of doing two full time jobs. Of course I tried, wanting to please him, but I failed. I know even now, that you cannot do two full time jobs well.....the song about "bringing home the bacon and frying it in the pan" is such a lie.

Thank you for being so honest about this issue. I personally would love to see more!

Kathleen in IL

Lydia said...

Kathleen,

Even after the war, remember there was a generation that had not fought a war that came late in the 50's and 60's and most women still stayed home and wanted to stay home. THey didnt view it as oppression. Some of them went to work because they thought they had to make money to put their children through college.

Feminism has ruined many men and women's success of finding mates. Instead of actively seeking mates, many girls, even religious ones, seek college or go on "ministries" where they provide free labor for causes outside of the home. I never understand how women can think being a homemaker is free labor and yet go to work overseas for a ministry and pay to do it, working for free.

Even homeschool girls are caught up in the "I want to help people" syndrome. Instead of desiring marriage and helping a husband and children in their lives, they want to help in a huge organization or a big ministry. These things use up the child bearing years of women's lives.

Some men are looking for wives but when they inquire, the women have all kinds of stipulations. I wish some of these women who are wanting husbands would watch a movie (based on a book) called Westward the Women, where mail order brides met their future husbands for the first time and appreciated having the chance to be married and have a home provided for them.

Feminism has destroyed kindness and love between men and women. Girls are in general not wanting to accept offers of marriage unless the men offer them the earth and the moon besides. In my parents day, women were glad to go anywhere with their husbands just to be with them, and would suffer some hardship and endure difficulties while they built a life together. Today it seems some would rather suffer hardships for a ministry or a college, and live in poverty to achieve some goal they have in mind. Yet they will not make such a sacrifice for marriage.

This probably is not what you were talking about but I wanted to write it down while it was on my mind.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for being this little island that I haven't found many other places. You have taught me many things that I in turn try to teach to other women. Sadly, few care or listen. But your ministry changed how my husband and I look at femininity. I always read the books you post about and hope to read this one. I'm watching that movie on netflix tonight.

Lydia said...

Kate, is the movie, "A Man Called Peter?" It portrays a beautiful example of femininity.

Katie V. said...

Wonderful post! Just discovered your blog. So,so true. Feminism has been one, great big lie. How our society could be restored if women embraced their role in the home as mother and wife.

Lydia said...

Katie V. Thank you. Your post about Sesame Street was eye-opening and I hope everyone will click on your blog and go read it.

Anonymous said...

Yes I was taken by the hardships yet acceptance and contentment of the women on the movie Westward the Women also. I see it listed for viewing off and on on TCM cable channel. Perhaps some library's or netflix has it. I sure hope others try to watch A Man Called Peter too. Now that is inspiration! It shows at times on TCM also and I am and take it to heart.. Sarah

Anonymous said...

Westward the Women is on you tube in parts, here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtobabOMcwI&playnext=1&list=PL5816EFA4A8BB1502

it shows the harshness of the wilderness in the pioneer days and the gratefulness the women had toward the men as well as the kindness of the men who were waiting for them to come out west.

MarkyMark said...

Ma'am,

As a man, I naturally have thoughts on this topic. I'll share two of them now. One is that women, en masse, are increasingly regretting having followed feminism. Two, when feminists speak of 'backup plans', they mean protection against what men may do to them. I'll expand on both of those themes now.

As time goes on, it's becoming apparent that women aren't happy; the more they get (in terms of feminism's gains of power, prestige, and material possessions that go along with that power & prestige), the more unhappier women, as a group, become. What does one expect when trying to be something they're not?! Putting square pegs in round holes has never worked well, and it never WILL work well-duh!

Articles like this one by Sasha Spencer are becoming increasingly common. They started with a trickle with Dannielle Crittenden's book, What Our Mothers Didn't Tell Us. Here's an excerpt at The New York Times. I see these kinds of pieces more often now as women wake up to the FRAUD that is feminism.

As for the second part about women needing backup plans, it's just another way for feminists to blame men; it's another way to cast aspersion on us, because women can't REALLY trust men to be there to support them. Ergo, women have to have their own independent means of sustenance.

What I have to say to any woman complaining about her husband is this: you picked him! You picked him, so the fact that you have a bum of a husband is no one else's fault but YOURS. If women want a good, trustworthy husband, then that's the kind of man they should choose-end of story.

Who is it that determines whether or not a relationship takes place? Who is it that consents and allows a relationship to progress? Is it not the woman who does this? Doesn't the woman have the final say-so WRT relationships with men? Therefore, isn't it the WOMAN who picks from her suitors the man she marries?

Don't get me wrong; I'm not pointing the finger at women here. What I am saying is that the feminists, by saying men are untrustworthy reprobates, are ignoring the fact that it's WOMEN who pick their husbands. If a woman is married to a reprobate, it's her fault; after all, SHE picked him.

In any case, feminism is one of history's greatest frauds. It's led millions of women astray. It's deprived women of what most of them REALLY want: a husband and family. This is seen in the increasing number of articles by feminists regretting their lives as they get older, as home and hearth pass them by. Feminism is also wrong by saying that it's totally the man's fault that a woman has a bad husband-wrong! It's the woman's fault, because she PICKED him. Those are my thoughts.

MarkyMark

MarkyMark said...

Oh, and as for feminism allowing women to use technology, they're wrong about that too! In many cases, men INVENTED that technology to make women's lives easier, e.g. the washing machine and other conveniences we take for granted today. The electric starter found on cars was invented, in part, because of women. A woman wanted to start her car, but couldn't because it had a hand crank. A man broke his arm trying to start it for her. Cadillac gave top priority to developing an electric starter as a result. Is there ONE THING about which the feminists are truthful?

Anonymous said...

"A Man Called Peter" is on netflix instant play now.

I also cheered when I first saw that speech by Katherine in the movie!

Jane

Lydia said...

Mark: One thing you forgot to list was that feminists, or women who had some femininist indoctrination in them still, raised some of those men. Without authoritive fathers and good, Biblical training from the mothers, men will not be strong go-getters who can be the heads of their families with confidence. Instead, they may be self-indulgent, have many vices, lack motivation and lack nobility. Of course,boys can have weak fathers, but if the mother is good and knows what is right, they can turn out to be fine, responsible men.

Lydia said...

Mark,

The sewing machine was one of those inventions created to make a woman's life at home easier. Men had invented a vacuume cleaner that was mechanical, not electric. I tried one that was being shown in a museam, and it was a system of levers that you pulled to create a vacuum to pull up the dirt from the carpet. However it was quite labor intensive and so later an electric one was invented.

The dishwasher, washer and dryer and other home conveniences were invented for women.

Blessed Homemaking said...

Once again, a post to encourage when not many others are. Someone has to stand up for the homemakers! I also appreciate your information on the historical aspects of homemakers (as it is rare to hear this information passed down).

Many blessings,
Mrs. Q

Lydia said...

Shelly, It is a matter of doing what the Bible says, and doing what is right. Satan will always try to make us think that it is impossible to do God's will, but the Bible says "with God, all things are possible." I do not think the Bible would command Christians to do something that would be impossible. There is no way of getting around the love God extends to women by giving them the honor of being wives, mothers and homemakers. This serves many purposes, which could take up a lot of space to write about. It protects women from carrying men's burdens, and it also frees men to be providers and to excel in their own fields without competition from women. Staying home enables women to develop their interests and talents. Homeschooling children takes you into all kinds of things like great literature, writing, history, science, nature studies, mathematics (quite useful in the home) and more. Women learn right along with their children and develop a stronger relationship with them, giving both the children and the parents a strong sense of their own purpose on earth. It is not a matter of "affording" it but a matter of doing it and making it affordable. If you want something bad enough and cannot afford it, you find ways of doing it. Where your treasure is, there will be your heart, also. What you do daily shows what you love the most; it shows where your treasure is.

Lydia said...

To the one who sent the long list of complaints about the modern conveniences that keep her busy cleaning house:

I did not publish your comment because it was so depressing. You sounded as though the modern things like flipping on a light switch and running water from a tap, or turning on the washer and dryer, filling the tank of your car with gas, and grocery shopping are oppressive. So, in your case, you should go back to the simple life. Definitely do not get a house with 4 bathrooms that you have to clean, and do not have a car. Walk, instead. If all that does not appeal to you, maybe you just need to go make a sandwich.

Julieann said...

I enjoyed this post very much!

All I have to say is, I so enjoy being a girl:)

Thnak you for sharing this post.

Happy Wednesday.

Julieann

Anonymous said...

"Homeschooling children takes you into all kinds of things like great literature, writing,.."

My son is taking an English Composition and Literature class at college this summer. His teacher asked him if he had been homeschooled and said homeschoolers tend to do well in his class. For our homeschool high school, we used American School of Correspondence in Lansing, IL, founded in 1897.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for recommending the movie "Westward the Women." It stood out to me how at the end of the trail the men and women were so grateful to reach each other, and how appreciative and gracious the men and women were towards each other.

I remember a man who married for the first time later in life telling me how grateful he and his wife were for finding each other. Their gratitude for each other made their marriage that much happier.

It's the same in other areas of life - we are often more grateful when we've first had to struggle and do without. My grandmother was housekeeping for her husband and several children on a farm with no running water and no electricity, cooking on a woodstove year round, and I can't imagine how grateful she must have been when they got electricity and indoor plumbing.

Anonymous said...

And lest anyone romanticize living without plumbing and electricity, one of my father's memories of his mother was that she was so busy she literally ran through the house from one chore to the next.

Lydia said...

To those whom I offered to promote their books: I still intend to do that, when I get a bit more time.

Anonymous said...

I just wanted to share that since I've been wearing long skirts and dresses I've been noticed by other women longing to wear them too, but are too intimidated by the feminists and their criticism.

One lady has been admiring my outfits for some time and finally had enough of hearing the feminists talk about me that she got some gumption to ask me to make her a dress also.

This gave me an opportunity to share with her that I live to please the Lord and not the feminists. I don't wear jeans any longer, I believe women look better in long skirts and dresses and that I had been treated with more respect from men even strangers since deciding to wear them.
I can do anything in a skirt with much more freedom that I could do in jeans and the skirts are none-binding and comfortable.

Every week I do my grocery shopping I am stopped by other women or men stating their appreciation for seeing a woman dressed modestly and femininely.

This lady is looking forward to a skirt and top for the summer even asking if I would be available to make a few more of them for her.

Thank you Lydia for being my mentor and for sharing with me about feminism.
I feel since women aren't happy with the lies the feminists have preached for years and that feminism doesn't work, women are slowly coming back to the old paths and ways that did work. Thank you for your encouragement and time. Keep the blogs coming.
Janet W.

Rightthinker said...

Beautiful post, as usual! So true, so biblical!

Lydia said...

Janet,

Those of us who live a more country life style really do have an excuse to wear jeans, but I find many country women able to do their chores in denim skirts and boots with leggings underneath, just like the women of old. I believe most people do not have the rough way of life that you and I do, and there is no need to wear jeans and tennis shoes and sweatshirts. Most people live in nice suburban houses or apartments. They can wear pretty clothes if they wear an apron over the outfit. A good kind of wardrobe is cotton dresses, below the knee, worn with aprons at home. When you need to go out, remove the apron and add a cute little jacket or sweater to make it look more formal. I'll try to draw out the picture I have in mind. There is not so much hard work in the house that we are required to dress like sawmill employees or lumberjacks or forestry workers. Regular homemaking and homeliving does not put that much wear and tear on clothing, so there should be ample reason to dress nice. Besides, many homes are luxurious and I believe we should dress as though we are queens in our castles.

Anonymous said...

Janet,

I find that a problem, too. When I wear a hand sewn dress or suit somewhere, several people ask me where they can get something like that. In grocery stores people tell me it is too hard to find nice clothes. I dont blame most women for just resorting to jeans all the time--the dresses in stores are just awful, designed in a way that makes you look fat, as they dont disguise anything....every extra roll or pound shows. Belly fat, bra fat, etc. through the stretchy cottons and nylon fabrics of modern dresses. We all need to get back to sewing and being self sufficient, but the patterns today are equally awful and terribly difficult.

Anonymous said...

I have found that any top or a soft flowing blouse (that isn't stretched skin tight) worn over a skirt covers enough abdomen and hip to disguise an imperfect figure and still give the look of a shapely body.

The last outfit I made was created from an A-line skirt from one pattern and a peasant blouse from another pattern. I sewed them from the same fabric. That is top and skirt matched.
The blouse tucked in the skirt is very shapely. Worn outside the skirt is boxy and loose.
If I want to wear it outside the skirt I use a garter clip (purchased at JoAnn Fabrics or Wal-Mart Stores)on back of the blouse just above the waist, gathered enough to give the look of a semi-form fitted or A-line dress. Its still loose enough to allow airflow, but gives more shape.

Simplicity, New Look and other patterns are not hard to sew.

Just remember one thing: The easiest garments to make have the least amount of pattern pieces to put together.
Simply open the pattern you choose and observe on the first page of the instructions how many pieces it takes to make the item you want. My skirt has a front, back, waistband and zipper.
My peasant top has a front, back and a sleeve. Three pattern pieces each.
When you've made your purchase it is good if you read every instruction first. I always cut out only the pattern pieces I need and press them flat with an iron before I start pinning. Pin every pattern piece you need on the fabric first to make sure it will all fit before cutting. Follow all instructions.

If you choose to purchase your clothes stay away from the stretch fabric outfits. They show everything off.
For the low tops, camisoles and tank tops with a bit of lace added at the top can take care of the immodest dip and are great to wear with filmy or shear fabrics.
Try finding 100% cotton fabrics also. Anything with a man made blend can cause you to perspire. 100% Cotton, linen and wool absorb perspiration. The fabric breaths and is more comfortable.
Janet W.

Trish said...

Well said, Lady Lydia!!
Thank you.
Blessings..Trish