The New Eve - Lewis Robert [10]
Some women back into this worldview simply because the rapid pace of change in our world overwhelms them. Trying to chart a path in a world of confusing, ever-changing options becomes too much to handle, so they decide to stick to the well-worn ways of their upbringing. Mustering the will and wisdom to analyze alternatives and consider a better path may seem too risky or not worth the effort. And so they go with what they know.
Is that you? Is that good? Maybe, maybe not. But certainly it's easier that way. More familiar and predictable. Did Mom choose to stay at home and make that her sole aspiration? You can choose to stick with her tradition and do the same. Did Mom depend on your dad for everything? You can repeat that. Or did she rule your home and your dad? You can seek to repeat that too. Or, as is more likely in the younger generation, did Mom pitch herself into a career, devoting all her best energies to pursuits outside the home? If so, why think differently? Like mother, like daughter. It's only natural for you to be caught up in this same trajectory. Besides, most of your friends are probably running along the same line. And so you replicate. You carry on the lifestyle you grew up in, not because it's necessarily right or best for you but because it's what you're comfortable with.
The Wounded, Reactionary Worldview
Believe it or not, reacting to a wound can become your world-view. It can mark your life so powerfully that everything about you is shaped or interpreted by its persuasion. Such a wound can come from your parents' failed marriage, your father's abuse, your mother's neglect, your parents' misplaced priorities, or a personal tragedy. As a result, this wound now serves as the primary lens through which you see your world. Unlike the traditional worldview, which esteems the past, this mind-set demands that you become different from your past, sometimes radically opposite in order to protect yourself from previous experiences.
Many women embrace this worldview. Study the background of some of the most strident modern-day feminists and you will find women choosing a lifestyle tailored to distance themselves from the pain they experienced from men, most often from the man they love most—Dad. To establish security, these women grab for power and promote a radical ideology that shields them from ever becoming vulnerable to or dependent on men again.
Andrea Dworkin is a prime example. At nine years of age, Dworkin was molested in a movie theater by an unknown male assailant. When she married, her husband assaulted her with kicks, punches, and burns. He even bashed her head against the floor so hard she was knocked unconscious. It's no surprise Dworkin became a fire-breathing feminist who saw men as worthless and urged women not to marry. “Like prostitution,” she wrote, “marriage is an institution that is extremely oppressive and dangerous for women.”1 Her tragic life became her worldview.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton is another example. The veritable founder of the American women's movement, Stanton was raised in an early nineteenth-century home that prized boys and looked on girls with cool indifference. The earliest memory seared into Elizabeth's mind was that of her parents expressing displeasure at the birth of her younger sister: “What a pity she's a girl!”
When Elizabeth was eleven years old, tragedy struck the family. Her elder brother, a promising college graduate and the lone jewel in the family crown, died in an accident. Seeking to ease her father's despondency, Elizabeth vowed to emulate her lost brother, especially to achieve his glories in academia. Greek would become her second language and history her passion. Since her brother's skills in the saddle once pleased her father,