The Feminist Movement Part Two: June Cleaver

In the 1950s the June Cleavers of the world packed their pearls and pumps to join corporate America, and it was less than a decade before most external marks of gender distinction faded out of American society. Before this point in history, most cultures had a way of hi-lighting masculine and feminine differences through dress and time occupation; these differences were seen as outward materialization of deeper realities. However, when the obvious distinctions of gender were stripped from society in the 1950’s, it uncovered a lack of solid doctrine. And so the questions, unmet with sufficient answers, lingered in the air as though an answer in and of themselves.

Feminism’s deceptions began to erode at the truth of what it means to be a woman on the heels of an era that made important advancements in gender equality. During the sixties and seventies there were two important questions being asked: the first was can genders be held as separate and yet equal, and secondly, what does it mean to be uniquely feminine or uniquely masculine? America had been asking since Plessy vs. Ferguson if separation and difference could still be equal— in terms of race as well as gender. Feminism whispered no, and the annihilation of gender distinction began. (As Christians we should know that while God only acknowledges one race: the human race, He acknowledges two distinct genders. This is why separate cannot be equal between ‘races’ but can between genders.)

Instead of returning to the beliefs/teachings of church fathers, the following era saw a religious re-institution of the obvious distinctions that eliminated the need to ask deeper questions. Since the role of women in the home and the church was under attack in society, there was counter action against the efforts to dissipate or reverse gender roles. The wearing of skirts and dresses became entwined with the definition of evangelical femininity. The modern home school movement also began which was consistent with the efforts to encourage women to be more home-centered.

These two areas of emphasis however, do not present the whole picture of femininity any more than if you were to define a man only in context to his role in the home and the church! My mother’s generation needed strong expositional teaching on submission and a women’s role in these two areas as her world during the sixties and seventies was saturated with lies that undermined these truths. My generation however is no longer inundated with strong anti-femininity messages, and yet the church continues to fight a battle that I would submit, the truth of God’s word has already won. We are daily seeing a return to the truth that women do thrive in the home, that women do long for children and family, and that a career is not the pinnacle of life.