I’ll just come right out of the gate and say it- chauvinists and feminists have been battling each other all throughout history.
That’s right- I said it. Chauvinism and feminism have been at each other’s throats through every generation. It’s nothing new. Some cultures and generations have emphasized one or the other in different time periods.
For example, in the 1950’s in white America, chauvinism was certainly emphasized. One can think of TV show sitcoms like “Ozzie and Harriet”- that depict the perfect little suburban family unit, all clean cut with the Mom doing all the cooking, cleaning and housekeeping, and the Dad doing all the work outside the home only to come home and let his wife serve him.
However, not everything about the 1950’s family unit was bad. There were plenty of wholesome families that raised great kids in this era. There were obviously corruptions of a male dominated society that sprung up and reared their ugly heads. But there were plenty of wonderful, decent people that operated in this paradigm during this time as well. Any reasonable person would agree with that.
But then we must consider the cultural revolution that happened in the 1960’s in America- and this movement had plenty of feminist impetus within it.
It’s funny how much of a reaction to the 1950’s it truly was. I think Brian David Robertson and Michael Rutherford of “Mike and the Mechanics” were surely right when they sang the words from the epic song “The Living Years”;
“Every generation blames the one before, and all of their frustrations come beating on your door”
But feminism is nothing new. From Ancient Greece to the fight for women’s suffrage to women’s marches and the #MeToo movement, the history of feminism is as long as it is fascinating.
Chauvinism is nothing new. There have been men who want to dominate women all throughout history, and it could be argued that they’ve largely succeeded culturally in doing so- which is certainly not a positive thing.
But what really do God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit want from their sons and daughters? How are we to relate to one another as men and women in the Body of Christ and as fellow disciple-making missionaries to the world around us? What does the Bible say about all this?
