Feminism & how has it affected you?

By definition feminism is a movement for granting women political, social, and economic quality with men. The second wave of feminism (which we are most familiar with) took place in the 1960’s – 1980’s which broadened the debate to include cultural inequalities, gender norms and the role of women in society. Women wanted to be treated fairly, receive fair pay for the same job, and in many instances be equal with men. Much progress has been made through the years although women only make about 77 cents to every dollar a man makes for the same job. (US Dept of Labor, 1/19/14). According to the U.S. Dept. of Labor this is pay discrimination and is illegal. However, with that being said feminism has cost more than money and we have all paid dearly for it. With feminism the importance of men began to diminish within families.   Women began declaring  that men and/or fathers were not needed. We could do it ourselves. We didn’t need a man to tell us what to do, how to do it and when to do it. We could get up and work all day, come home and cook dinner and raise our kids ourselves. What that has done to the psyche of men I can only imagine. What has happened though is that many of us women of this generation have grown up believing this lie that we can take care of ourselves, without a man in our lives in any kind of meaningful way.

I was raised by a single mother and much of my family consisted of divorced mothers. What I witnessed was men that had committed to being husbands and fathers could and did walk out on their families, and were rarely seen afterwards. This only reinforced that one could manage without a man. We grew up without a father and I’m sad to say for a portion of my children’s lives, they did too. They both saw that a father could and did walk away and not be heard of much afterwards. To make matters worse, I have only met a very few actual “good men” in my life. We’ve seen a breakdown of the family and I believe that feminism has played a large part in that destruction.

I’ve learned the while a woman can have a career, raise a functional family, men do have an essential responsibility to share with us. One is not more important than the other, both are important. A woman is not capable of being a father, just as a man is not capable of being a mother. Both bring  things to the table that cannot be replaced or ignored.