Ross Douthat of the New York Times writes an article called “Liberated and Unhappy,” which interacts with the study “The Paradox of Declining Female Happiness.”  Here is a sample:

[T]he achievements of the feminist era may have delivered women to greater unhappiness. In the 1960s, when Betty Friedan diagnosed her fellow wives and daughters as the victims of “the problem with no name,” American women reported themselves happier, on average, than did men. Today, that gender gap has reversed. Male happiness has inched up, and female happiness has dropped. In postfeminist America, men are happier than women …

a new-model stigma shouldn’t (and couldn’t) look like the old sexism. There’s no necessary reason why feminists and cultural conservatives can’t join forces — in the same way that they made common cause during the pornography wars of the 1980s — behind a social revolution that ostracizes serial baby-daddies and trophy-wife collectors as thoroughly as the “fallen women” of a more patriarchal age.

No reason, of course, save the fact that contemporary America doesn’t seem willing to accept sexual stigma, period. We simply don’t have the stomach for permanently ostracizing the sexually irresponsible — be they a pregnant starlet, a thrice-divorced tycoon, or even a prostitute-hiring politician.

In this sense, ours is a kinder, gentler, more forgiving country than it was 40 years ago. But for half the public, it’s an unhappier country as well.

[HT: Owen Strachan]

My wife is at a conference this weekend called True Woman: Now is the Time.  A theological document that drives the worldview of this conference is called the True Woman Manifesto.  This document makes clear that the Bible teaches that “the creation of humanity as male and female was a purposeful and magnificent part of God’s wise plan, and that men and women were designed to reflect the image of God in complementary and distinct ways.”  There is a lot more theology in the document, but it also ends with application that flows out of the theology:

1. Seek to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.
2. Gladly yield control of our lives to Christ as Lord—we will say “Yes, Lord” to the Word and the will of God.
3. Be women of the Word, seeking to grow in our knowledge of Scripture and to live in accord with sound doctrine in every area of our lives.
4. Nurture our fellowship and communion with God through prayer—in praise, thanksgiving, confession, intercession, and supplication.
5. Embrace and express our unique design and calling as women with humility, gratitude, faith, and joy.
6. Seek to glorify God by cultivating such virtues as purity, modesty, submission, meekness, and love.
7. Show proper respect to both men and women, created in the image of God, esteeming others as better than ourselves, seeking to build them up, and putting off bitterness, anger, and evil speaking.
8. Be faithfully engaged in our local church, submitting ourselves to our spiritual leaders, growing in the context of the community of faith, and using the gifts He has given us to serve others, to build up the Body of Christ, and to fulfill His redemptive purposes in the world.
9. Seek to establish homes that manifest the love, grace, beauty, and order of God, that provide a climate conducive to nurturing life, and that extend Christian hospitality to those outside the walls of our homes.
10. Honor the sacredness, purity, and permanence of the marriage covenant—whether ours or others’.
11. Receive children as a blessing from the Lord, seeking to train them to love and follow Christ and to consecrate their lives for the sake of His gospel and Kingdom.
12. Live out the mandate of Titus 2—as older women, modeling godliness and training younger women to be pleasing to God in every respect; as younger women, receiving instruction with meekness and humility and aspiring to become mature women of God who in turn will train the next generation.
13. Seek opportunities to share the gospel of Christ with unbelievers.
14. Reflect God’s heart for those who are poor, infirm, oppressed, widows, orphans, and prisoners, by reaching out to minister to their practical and spiritual needs in the name of Christ.
15. Pray for a movement of revival and reformation among God’s people that will result in the advancement of the Kingdom and gospel of Christ among all nations.

Men, it is good to provide for your family financially.  However, this provision is sometimes confused with living the American dream, which is a house with a white picket fence, a wife and 2.5 kids, two reliable cars, and successful mutual funds and a healthy 401K.  Sometimes achieving this dream comes at great coast to women, especially when they become mothers, because the expectation of having a full time and being a full time mother is put on them.  There is no doubt that there are some situations where families must have both parents working just to get food on the tables, and these families should be in our prayers consistently.  On the other hand, often both parents work not to provide the essentials for living, but rather to have more possessions for extra comfortable living.

Consider this quote:

“A man who really gets Ephesians 5 is the kind of man who will be willing to work two jobs and live in a trailer to enable his wife to be the primary caregiver of his children.” – Owen Strachan

What do you think?  Is this quote touching on something that is true and biblical, or being a little extreme?

(HT: Council of Biblical Manhood and Womandhood)