Did "Womens Lib" cause the economy, families and the country to fall apart?

Question

Since the "Womens Lib" movement:
almost all families need 2 incomes to get by, not get ahead, just get by
almost all families are burried in credit card debt
homes being foreclosed on & bankruptcy arent even shocking anymore
kids are going to school and killing their teachers and other kids
kids are comitting crimes of violence, getting pregnant, have no or little respect for adults
fast food and take out are replacing pot roasts, pork chops and dinner at the family table
kids are more commonly overweight or obese (fast food)
parks are empty or sparsly visited
couples are not marrying, not staying together or divorcing in spite of having children together
abortion was supposed to liberate women and make "every child a wanted child" however, the rate of child abuse, neglect and molestation gets higher and higher
we dont appreciate neighbors, family, friends or our nation like we should
families dont pray or attend church like before
communities are not close now
thoughts?

Answer 1

no, it didn't "cause" these problems, but they didn't help either. and they helped to break up the nuclear family as a standard lifestyle

Answer 2

I almost didn't bother to answer this question because it is so absurd, and besides, I know you will not agree with the things I am going to point out to you. Your first red flag here was the use of the term "women's lib." Right away, one can guess your slant on the question, as that generally has a negative connotation. If you really mean equal pay for all people, or equal working rights, then say so.

Let's start with this statement: "Just because two things happen around the same time, does not mean one caused the other." Applied, it means for almost every item on your blame list, it could easily be turned around. For instance: "Did women start working and that made all the costs go up so all families needed two incomes?" OR "Did costs rise making the need for an additional income in the familes?" I happen to believe the second. It's like you are putting the cart before the horse. Economics was definately a factor.

On some of your other items there is no relation whatsoever. "Families don't pray?" What could that possibly have to do with equal pay for equal rights or whether a woman chooses to work? Nobody is stopping you from praying.

I realize you are probably looking for a scapegoat here so you can point your finger at the ugly problems society faces and say "aha! it's the woman's fault!" You say the children are having problems. Why is that more of the mother's fault than the father's? Either parent is capable of taking the children to a park or to church, too, if that's what they want to do. They could alternate, or they could all go. Parents should decide together how to raise their children. There is not "one" right way. Different things work for different families.

Do you not know how to make food or buy yourself a porkchop if that's what you want for dinner? Everyone has different skills and interests. Not everyone wants to slave over a stove for hours to make a meal from scratch. If that's what YOU want to do, go for it. Every couple needs to define for themselves what duties they are best suited for within their relationship. Nobody is making you eat fastfood. If you became obese, don't blame that on a woman. Go to a gym and work out, or at least order a salad if you must have carryout. Take personal responsibility for yourself. If everyone could do that, then there would be less blaming going on, & more problem solving going on.

And last not but not least, let's try and figure out why working women could be the cause of child abuse and molestation? Do you think this is a new problem, or has it been around for centuries? Are working women really doing this to children? Sorry, I don't see your connection there at all.

Answer 3

That is such a bullshit argument I cannot even begin to respond.

First, a consumer driven culture is what is killing the middle class. Since the end of WWII, people were encouraged to spend, spend, spend. While this was a good thing in that time period since consumer consumption, foreign direct investment and govt spending were needed to stimulate the economy and get it back on track after the depression and the war. In the 1980's the notion that "greed is good" entered into the picture and people spent even more while corporations pumped even more crap into the consumers hands. The average savings rate in this country is about 4%. That means that people spend more than 90% of there income.....so everything we buy costs more because we want more of it and providers are smart enough to understand the laws of supply & demand....

2/ Society has also changed. We no longer look to mentors within our communities because we have learnt to idolize the people we see on TV......Parents don't even stand a chance never mind being able to discipline their kids......

3/ We have a country that is run on popularity polls. It's no longer about tackling issues and coming up with real solutions.......

In the last 10 years we have seen more "stay-at-home" parents than in the 1980's and yet it seems that things are not getting any better..........so I reject that argument that women's lib is the sole scapegoat.....you want to find the problem, look in the mirror....we are all to blame.....

Answer 4

One of the reasons for the women's liberation movement was women needing to work outside the home to help financially support the family, so it was a result, not a cause.

Women being considered human beings rather than property is not the cause of the economy going down the toilet. That's absurd.

Kids having access to rapid fire weaponry has more to do with the rise in school killings.

The rise of fast food has much of its cause in the poor economy that requires two-income households.

The rate of child abuse, neglect, etc. hasn't gotten higher -- it used to be hidden, now it's reported and dealt with, which is a good thing.

I've seen people blame similar lists of woes to the teaching of science, rather than theology, in schools, and all other sorts of silly connections.

Just because you personally don't think women are human beings, with minds, with rights, doesn't mean that every bad thing that has happened is due to most people's disagreeing with you.

Looks like the Taliban are re-taking Afghanistan. Perhaps you'd like to move there; it sounds like just the sort of culture you'd love.

Answer 5

This is not the fault a attempting to level the gender playing field.
You are confusing one cause to another effect. It is not just that simple.

First of all there has never been Halcyon days in the US. Families have always been struggling. Teenagers have always been getting pregnant. Children have been killing. Children have always been moleted. Even when "everyone went to church". We here about it more becuase we are more linked to each other.

There are deeper social and economic forces working here than any simplistic political jingo can answer. Try reading the complete social history of the countru first. From several perspectives.

Then ask the question.

Answer 6

I would suggest that the absence of a full time parent in the home has certainly contributed to the declines in our society that you mentioned but, I don't think it would be accurate to say that Women's Lib "caused" the decline. Many many factors have contributed to the overall societal decline we've all experienced over the past few decades. You might think of it like a series of dominos falling which lead us to where we are today, and the sad thing is that if you look for the forces and push those dominoes you will end up with one word....MONEY.

Ask yourself why women’s lib succeeded when it did. Was it just coincidence that it succeeded around the same time as the creation of federal income tax and the founding of the private corporation called the Federal Reserve. A private bank, whose owners are not known publicly, is granted, by the US government, a monopoly on printing US currency. That private bank then prints as much money as it wants to and then turns around and "loans" it to the US government and charges them high rates of interest. Who pays that interest? US families in the form of Federal personal income tax. Do you realize that ALL of your federal income tax money simply goes to pay that interest? And it's for money the Federal Reserve Bank created out of thin air. They no longer have to back it up with gold or anything else, they just get to print it and then charge YOU and ME lots of money to use the play money they printed. So anyway, there is this company called the Federal Reserve, and yes I'm talking about the "Alan Greenspan" Federal Reserve. They are not part of our government; they are a private business, no more a part of the government than Federal Express. Our government is run on money from other taxes, highway taxes, gas tax, cig tax, etc. but ALL (95%) of everyone's personal income tax, about $900 billion last year, goes to this private business called the Federal Reserve. So anyway, back in 1913 when our country leaders came up with this idea of taxing us on our labor, they realized that only half the adult population was working and could be taxed. "Allow" women to vote and work and you double the number of people you can get tax money from. Get it? So this secret society of super rich, super powerful business men who own the federal reserve bank actually financed the women's lib movement so they could tax you.

These same "bankers", the insatiable quest for money, and the successful selling of the idea of the "American Dream" to a gullible public are at the root of much of what you mentioned. So, "yes", mom's being out of the home have had a negative effect on kids leading to all kinds of problems, but look deeper. Don't just say is it mom's being gone from the home, but ask "WHY" are they gone.

Answer 7

Women Liberation was instituted to give women the same rights as men and if you did research you would see that "men" are the source of the problems not women who wanted to get treated better. Do you know that women used to have to stand behind their husbands chair during dinner and serve him and their children and she ate AFTER they were finished. Did you know that men felt they had the right to beat their wives and girlfriends and the law agreed? You have a very narrow mind in respects to what womens lib is about. All that you said is inane and insane. And frankly you seem brain washed.

Answer 8

Women's lib was just a symptom of the disease that tore the fabric of our nation apart. It was part of the major Socialist movement that started in the 60's and continues today. Women, homosexuals, blacks, mexicans, handicapped, religions (except the mainstream), immigrants legal and illegal, and more all have their own self-serving political interests with utter disregard for the whole of American society. What was once a monolithic superpower has been divided and conquered by insidious socialism fostered by the ever-more-powerful and appreciative government.

Answer 9

You raise a lot of good points, but there's no way you can lay all of that at the feet of the feminist movement. Let's take this apart piece-by-piece and look at it.

For starters, the financial problems being faced by families can be blamed on the financial irresponsibility of Americans. We live in an entitlement society where people think they "deserve" all the luxuries like a fully-loaded SUV, a plasma TV with a Dolby 7.1 surround system, a designer wardrobe, etc., without having to earn the money to buy them. We don't teach ANYONE how to use credit wisely and our children are also laboring under the misconception that being an American entitles you to having a job that pays well enough for you to support yourself and your family. Again, no one wants to earn the job; they just want to have everything handed to them. Now, I've never heard ANY feminist espouse fiscal irresponsibility, have you?

The problems being faced by children can be laid squarely at the feet of the parents who refuse to be parents, don't get involved in their child(ren)s' lives, and are very happy to let the TV entertain and educate their children. Of course, parents are also not being held accountable for their children as they were in the past, and the blame for that falls on liberals who call any type of discipline child abuse. They can also be blamed for the violence on TV that has been defended under the guise of freedom of speech and/or expression. In this case, feminists share some blame because they were a big part of the no-spanking culture and support total freedom of the media, but they're not the only ones to blame.

As for abortion, let's pile the millions of dead fetuses on Gloria Steinem and her cohorts. Feminists OWN that one, and they're also one of the major contributors to the anti-marriage and high-divorce society we live in.

Child abuse and neglect goes back to the parents again, and as for molestation, score another one for the liberals who would even dare imply that an organization like NAMBLA is not only acceptable but is protected by Constitutional rights.

Ditto the mark against the liberals for the fall-off of prayer and church attendance, due largely to their Queen High Executioner Madeline Murray O'Hair who championed removing even the mention of God from all walks of American life.

BOTTOM LINE: Feminism is not to blame. Feminism has brought about some good things. Women are on a much more level playing field in the job sector than they were 40 years ago -- granted, it's not PERFECTLY level, but it's an improvement, and the feminists get the kudos for that. Ditto that for the laws passed against sexual harassment in the workplace and tougher laws against rape/sexual assault.

The REAL blame for the dire straits Americans find themselves in comes from the whole idea of HUMANISM -- you are your own god, focus on you and what you want, what's right and wrong is based on what you feel, you have the right to be happy, you have the right to have whatever you want, and it's completely OK to put yourself first, foremost and always (never mind how it may affect those around you, in the words of Sheryl Crow "If it makes you happy it can't be that bad.")

Something that people need to consider before the next election: One party espouses a belief in a supreme being and believes that laws should be aimed at holding individuals accountable for themselves, for their children, for their families. The other party espouses a belief in the individual as god and therefore holds no one accountable because each individual supposedly has the right to decide right and wrong for himself or herself, regardless of what effect their actions may have on others. Vote one way and you can help this country get back on track. Vote the other way and you can just sit back and watch while all the problems listed above get worse and our society degrades to the point where the only law is the law of the jungle -- survival of the fittest.

Answer 10

You're somewhat backwards. The economy is the cause of
most Moms working. The days of the neighborhood social
life are gone. Thank our politicans for that, but don't blame
women. For the sake of God, bush will read your question &
start making laws telling us how to dress, if we can drive &
how many babies we should be having!

Answer 11

I'd blame greed and wanting to own everything you see that is advertised.

People used to live in small houses, kids shared rooms, a family had one car, people ate meals at home. Now people live in huge houses, every kid has their own room, every one in the family over 16 has their own car and we eat out all the time.