What has become of us? As a nation we used to be strong, resolute, and stoic. Post World War II America has become increasingly wimpy. We are too pampered, too priviledged.
We are too comfortable.
I worry sometimes about what it will take for us to remember that there is a big bad world just outside our borders. A world bent on destroying us.
We seem determined to ignore it as long and as best as we can. We don’t want to get out of our comfort zones.
I used to be a therapist and did some marital counselling. I saw a lot of unhappy housewives. A lot of them. That turned into my specialty by default.
You might be wondering what unhappy housewives have to do with the wimpization of our nation. Well, I have a theory [surprise!].
I think that our nation went through an evolution in which we went way overboard with women’s lib. Please don’t misunderstand, I have worked my entire adult life and can be a nazi feminist at times. Especially when I haven’t been paid what my male counterparts were paid.
But did we really have to appreciate feminism at the expense of masculinity?
In the 80’s women were getting more respected by acting more like men (remember the huge shoulder pads?) and men were expected to act more like women (Alan Alda?). Traditional female roles were not valued.
Back to the unhappy housewives – in retrospect it seems to me that many had bought into the idea that ’if only my husband was more sensitive to my feelings, I’d be happier’. In truth, the women were generally not happy with themselves and thought if their husbands would just change everything would be better.
Eventually, I would ask them if they really wanted their husbands to act like women. Inevitably, they would look at me in shock and say ‘no!’ or ‘That’s not what I mean’.
See, I think there’s a place for both men and women. Women have a role and men have a role and we need both and both are valuable. Neither is worth more than the other. Neither is worth LESS than the other.
The best marriages that I’ve seen are ones in which each appreciates and values what the other brings to the marriage, rather than focusing on what the other does or doesn’t do. We’re all just human.
For a long time, we’ve been telling our men that they are ‘insensitive’ or ‘crude’ or whatever, if they act like men. Then we are angry with them when they don’t act like men.
Somewhere along the way, America got confused.
While trying to get in touch with our feminine side, we tossed out our masculine side. Just like those unhappy housewives, we forgot to value the masculine part of our lives.
As my mother says, children need a mother to comfort them when they are hurt and a father to tell them to dust themselves off and get up and try it again. We need both. Too much coddling makes a child whinny and weak. Too much discipline makes a child angry and destructive. A balance of the two is a recipe for a healthier adult.
Our country has gotten out of balance. Too much coddling and not enough discipline. Too much feminine and not enough masculine.
We really need to get back in touch with our masculine side.
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Please read:
WorldnetDaily: Rusty Humphries writes The Truth about American resolve.
We, as a country, have a fatal flaw: We are no longer comfortable with the word, “no.” We are afraid to hurt feelings, we are afraid of discipline and we are afraid of merely being (falsely) accused of being intolerant.
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For a lighter take on the male/female thing check out Planck’s Constant, Men are Not Mindreaders
Don Surber advises women to act like ladies and men to respect women (how old-fashioned!).
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linked to: Gribbit’s World; Diane’s Stuff; Third World County; Adam’s Blog; Stuck on Stupid; Cao’s Blog; TMH’s Bacon Bits; Is It Just Me? ; Basil’s Blog; Right Wing Nation; Outside the Beltway;
