Paging Sir Galahad

    Out of the blue I was asked a question by a young lady…

Her:  Do you have any boys?

Me:  No, two girls… Why?

Her:  Just wondering…

Me:  WHY?  (I was a bit direct sensing something was troubling her)

Her:  Why are guys… Why do they seem to lack commitment, respect, courtesy?

Me:  Chivalry?

Me:  The equal rights movement, women’s rights.  Women said they wanted to play lumberjack, now they’re shocked when someone treats them as an equal and tells them to pick-up their end of the log.  Equality ended up with women being knocked from the “pedestal” they used to be placed upon, all in the name of “EQUALITY”.   (This time I may have been too direct, too blunt.  I saw a tear well up in the corner of her eye).

    The conversation continued on but you get the gist of where I’m going.  I’ll be using a wide brush, more of a societal observation than an individual incident.

    In the mid to late 70’s through the early 80’s young girls were bombarded with the idea the only way their lives could be rewarding was to enter into the workforce, become a professional.  They were also told the traditional family role of wife, mother and caregiver was “Old Fashion” and demeaning.

 

This attack was primarily forwarded by the education system and media outlets (Hollywood, TV and movies) and being exposed to the same propaganda, parents in an attempt to be supportive unwittingly urged they’re young girls to pursue non-traditional roles, downplaying the value and virtues of being a traditional wife and mother.  The whole goal was to raise a generation of supposed “Independent” women.  Boys and young men were pretty much ignored at this phase other than incidental exposure to the propaganda directed at girls and young women, but it had its effect on them also.

 

    The mid 80’s to early 90’s the influx of the “Independent Woman” into the labor force was completed; this began the excess cogs for the industrial machine phase.  Following the rule of supply and demand, wages began to stagnate as the workforce outpaced openings.  All the while living expenses continued to rise, the option of entering the workforce for women was no longer a choice, it became an economic necessity.  The traditional nuclear family unit began to fracture under the stress.  Traditional role models were absent.

 

    With both parents now having to work, the remainder of the 90’s became the “It Takes a Village” years. The next generation came of age in, and more dependent on child care programs, daycare, preschool, elementary school, etc… “Assembly Line” child rearing.  No one thought to question the values being learned by children that grew up in “The Village”.  The nuclear family for all intense purposes had been split.  The majority of the children had never been sent off to school after having a hot breakfast with the family; instead they got a tray of whatever when they were dropped off as mom headed to work.  Instead of playing catch with dad, they spent the after school hours in another program.

 

    After languishing in the broken family unit assembly line mode and collapsing economic structure, by late 2000’s the final nail was to be driven into the coffin of the traditional family unit.  The new provider, the new caregiver, the new parent was announced… “The Government Will Provide”.  Now the children of the “Village Generation” are the young adults that should be starting families, unfortunately for most, what they had as a role model was a program, an agency, a system. They have no idea of what a family is, nothing of family ties, commitment, dependability, responsibility or respect for the family.  They are and act the way they have been taught.

    For 30 to 40 years, generations have been taught there are no “Damsels’ in Distress”, there is no “Dragon to Slay”, we have no need for the “Knight in Shining Armor”, no need for gallantry, no need for chivalry.  After all, “The Government (or the Dragon?) Will Provide”.  I think most have listened.  But keep looking, I’m sure there is one more young Knight out there… Settle for nothing less.

Along with others, still standing sword drawn

The TOMCAT