We have had 10+ years now of much-needed tough love messaging to young men.
People like Jordan Peterson have called them to step up, take responsibility, and become competent and virtuous. Various corners of the Christian world have also echoed that call.
And, in a lot of ways, it has worked.
Young men are growing more religious. Many of them want to settle down, marry, and have kids.
Laziness and aimlessness are frowned upon in ways they weren’t before.
Pornography addiction is no longer a “Most guys do it but nobody talks about it” issue. The calls to walk away and the resources to help are abundant.
There is certainly still plenty of work to do, but young men have come a long way.
But that leaves the question... who is going to challenge the women?
Who is the Jordan Peterson for women?
Where are the older Christian women who are calling Christian girls to abandon their feminism, swallow their prideful superiority complex toward men, and pursue a “gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God?”
For every stat that shows a notable segment of young men turning things around and getting serious about their lives, there’s a stat for women that goes the other way.
They are less interested in marriage and children.
They are more socially liberal and less interested in traditional morality.
And the mere suggestion that something is wrong with the way young women are being brought up, and maybe something should change, brings the fiercest backlash.
That should be the job of their mothers and older Christian women. But the problem is, these values are coming FROM the very women that should be helping root them out.
It is the older Christian women who will often lecture girls for getting married “too young.”
It is the older Christian women who will often share their un-asked-for opinion when a Christian family has “too many kids” in their eyes.
It is the older Christian women who often quietly run their homes and their churches rather than practicing the role God placed them in.
It is the older Christian women who often give the strongest pushback to the idea that young women should be encouraged toward being “workers at home” as the Bible says.
It’s great that young men are starting to turn things around. But, at some point, they’re going to need women to join them in the effort.
And that’s going to require somebody giving young women the kind of uncomfortable but vital tough love that the young men have been receiving. Where is it going to come from?
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Notes
The latest Church Reset podcast is up! I discussed ‘The Delayed Marriage Disaster.’ Watch/listen at the link, or check the Church Reset feed on your podcast app
