Gender Roles

The idea of traditional gender roles has become anathema in modern American society. To even discuss the idea of different roles for men and women these days is to invite the wrath of the politically correct crowd.

But are men and women exactly the same?

Do husbands and wives have different roles to play in the context of the family?

Those are important questions.

Most Americans today would reject the idea of specific gender roles.

But the Bible embraces them.

In Ephesians 5:22-25 the Scriptures say this.....

Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her

When you read through what the Bible has to say about gender roles, one of the things that jumps out is the huge responsibility put on men. Husbands are expected to do whatever they have to do to protect their families. That includes having to die for them if necessary, just as Christ died for the Church.

But are men brought up to be this type of extraordinary "servant-leader" in the United States today?

No.

If you turn on the television today, you won't have to wait long to see how men are expected to behave in modern America - sex crazed, beer swilling, irresponsible idiot slackers who cower before their more mature, more responsible and more dominant female partners.

The truth is that the "strong male" has become an endangered species in the United States. It has been widely reported that testosterone levels in men are dropping about 1.2% per year, and 59% of all college students are now female. In fact, it has been reported that women in their 20s in the 10 largest cities in the United States now earn more money than men of the same age. Those women who are still looking for a traditional "man" complain that all they find are overgrown boys who have given up, tuned out, are slaves to their addictions and who won't take responsibility for anything.

Not that men are bad - most of them feel completely lost and confused - as if they have lost something that they didn't even know they were missing. All of their lives American men have been taught that they are NOT the leaders of the home, and that it should be expected that women will yell at them and tell them what to do. Movies and television reinforce this programming every single day by bombarding men and boys with the message that they are irresponsible subservient slackers who need to be corrected by the more responsible females.

Just think about all the times you have watched a scene where a female character yells at a male character and chews him out.

And what do we do?

We laugh and snicker.

But now take that same scene and flip the characters.

We would be horrified, wouldn't we?

And rightfully so.

So why do we think it is cute when the female verbally abuses the male?

The truth is that we have taught a generation of women that they should lead and dominate men. Instead of teaching them the Biblical principle that women should respect their husbands and let them lead, we have instructed our young women to rebel against any semblance of male leadership.

A shocking study done by the respected Pew Research Center confirms that in the United States it is women who predominantly rule the home.

The study surveyed 1,260 individuals who were either married or living together. What the study found was that in 43% of all couples, women make more decisions in the four areas Pew surveyed: planning weekend activities, household finances, major home purchases and television watching.

26% of the time men make more of the decisions, the survey revealed, and 31% of the time the decisions are made "equally".

So should we be surprised?

Is it not obvious that the women wear the pants in most American families now?

For example, one respondent to the USAToday article about this survey wrote this:

"I am a manager at work, and wouldn't have it any other way. But when I get home, I'd much rather chill out and let the wife make the calls."

The truth is that we have trained a generation of American men to be immature, subservient, submissive wimps who are very hesitant to take responsibility or leadership.

Watch just about any sitcom or any television commercial or any movie with these issues in mind. Watch who the dominant partner in any couple is. Once you know to look for it you will see it everywhere.

This is not how a society should work.

The Bible teaches that men should be strong, powerful, sacrificial servant-leaders as we see in Ephesians 5:25:

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her

The truth is that men need to be so strong for their wives and children that they need to be ready to die for their families if it comes down to that.

How far we are from that ideal today.

Instead of creating a society full of strong men who would be willing to die for their families if need be, we have created a society full of weak, irresponsible, passive men who won't stand up for anyone or anything.

Is that something to be proud of?

Should we boast that we have nearly eradicated traditional gender roles from modern American society?

Not at all.

The rejection of traditional gender roles has made America much weaker, and it is future generations who will continue to pay the price for our foolishness.