Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 21, 1993 TAG: 9303220387
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
LOOK WHAT FEMINISM HAS WROUGHT
THIS YEAR marks the 30th anniversary of the publication of "The Feminine Mystique," the book that helped set off the feminist movement. We would do well to take some time to examine the damage that feminism, particularly in its more radical forms, has done to the stability of our society.The most serious impact has been the destabilization of the family. Despite the Democrats' rhetoric during the presidential campaign, family values boil down to a family that can raise children to be stable, mentally healthy adults. Increasingly, the American family is failing to do that.
Since the '60s, the divorce rate has soared to the point where half of all marriages end in divorce. Feminism has been the principle factor in creating this statistic.
It has given men an excuse for not being responsible for their wives' well-being. It has created marriages consisting of two hard-charging professionals whose careers are their lives. This leaves them with little time for the children, and conflicting ambitions may kill the marriage.
Feminism has turned many families into two-headed monsters that leave disputes unresolved and men feeling emasculated. In all of this, children end up being the innocent bystanders who get caught in the crossfire.
Feminism has also encouraged sexual promiscuity with its I-can-be-as-nasty-as-any-man attitude. Many of the feminists set up a promiscuous straw man, and then sought to emulate him. This encouraged men to regard women as sex toys.
As a curious sidelight to the feminist involvement in the sexual revolution, we should take a look at homosexuality. For some reason, militant feminists seem to be enthralled by this form of sexual perversion. Have they had a hand in increasing homosexual activity? We didn't have a large outbreak of AIDS until the early '80s.
This would be a good time for all of us, and particularly the feminists, to look back on the past 30 years and ponder what we have done. JOHN BARNHART ROANOKE