I wanted to move to the Next Video from a previous True Women's Conference. The last portion I spoke about Part One - You've Come a Long Way Baby!
Mary Kassian states that the Leave it to Beaver had been replaced by The Mary Tyler Moore show.
By the late 1960s, the image of June Cleaver being happy at home in her role as wife and mother were gone by the wayside, replaced by the 1970s Mary Tyler Moore image of a pretty, single woman in her 30s pursuing a career at a television station. The show was lauded as a breakthrough because it had the first, independent, attractive career woman as the center.
It discreetly implied that Mary was single. She was on the pill. She was also sexually active, but the focus of the show was on her career, not on her association with men. She truly was on her own, without a recurring father or husband or boyfriend or anyone looking out for her. Every episode, the theme song proudly alluded to her autonomy. “You're gonna make it after all.” Okay? A lot of you women remember that. You remember that. You're shaking your heads.
YES Mary came to Minneapolis after her engagement fell apart, and applied for a Reception position yet was offered a producer job instead. The theme song for the show was called, Love Is All Around. If we stop and think about the line 'your going to make it after all'? It makes sense! I'm sure she came to that town totally broken hearted, and wondered where her life was going to go at that point.
It was upbeat, and truly nothing ominous about it. I don't mean to be a negative nelly here, but it was a good show at the time. Its focus wasn't on any of what she mentioned, and I don't understand why she brings this show up for her points. I mean if the engagement didn't break down? Maybe she would have been another Mrs. Cleaver.
Murphy Brown
In the 1980s, we're introduced to Murphy Brown, an investigative journalist and news anchor for FYI, a fictional TV news magazine. In contrast to the gentle sweetness of Mary Tyler Moore, this character, Murphy Brown, has a loud mouth, is rash, driven, self-assured, self-absorbed, and highly opinionated. She is a divorcee and a proud atheist, and during the course of the series, Murphy becomes pregnant but chooses not to marry her baby's father. A man would cramp her style. She has the child none-the-less and leaves the baby in the care of a revolving door of nannies so she can pursue her career. The child is merely a side in the plot that revolves around Murphy's self-actualization in the workplace.
There are alot of people in power - and she was powerful - that had that power corrupt them and others. That's hardly a gender factor if you look at history. I can understand why she picked this character, because Murphy Brown seems like the character they use to show you how 'feminism' is bad. The problem comes that most of us don't live the Murphy Brown life.
Being someone that has a loud mouth, is rash, driven, self-assured, self-absorbed, and highly opinionated can be tagged to most of the broken world. They may or may not be so in your face about it as Murphy was, but these traits for humans were present - and were alive - well before any movement started.
Ellen Degeneres
In the mid-90s, enter Ellen, a woman who doesn't work for someone else but who independently owns her own business, a bookstore. Ellen lives with a man, but the relationship is platonic. He's just her roommate. She's not sexually attracted to him, and gradually, we discover that Ellen isn't attracted to men at all. She's a lesbian, a woman-identified woman. She has the right to define her own sexuality and her own morality, and no one has the right to judge her for it. She's out, and she's in charge, as are virtually all the women portrayed in the media in the past decade. From children's cartoons to television series to movies, women are portrayed as having an in charge—don't need a guy—I'm powerful, traditional marriage and family and morals are outdated—I have the right to rule—how dare you tell me what to do—mentality.
Sigh. Seriously? I didn't like Murphy Brown because she was annoying. I didn't like the brash nature of her, and I don't like that type of personality with men either. I'm sure others like the nutty comedy, but it just wasn't my personal taste. Ellen on the other hand almost lost her entire career after coming out. Did you notice she didn't mention that part? That is a HUGE part of that story!
With the Ellen show? Her being a gay didn't come out right away, and when it did? The show went down the tubes, the advertisers stopped supporting it, and fire storm around it just about crushed her completely.
Both shows give a slice of different types of lifestyles, but neither of them tell you that you must be like us. Do they show the traditional lifestyle of most? No. Do they say your lifestyle is stupid, and outdated so get with the program? No.
Comedy shows are reality?
I don't understand why people seem to think comedy shows represent 'society'. They are made to entertain, and make you giggle at all the silly circumstances these people place themselves in. SURE they can use a ring of truth in a twisted way, and heck even get us to giggle at our attitudes at times.
'From children's cartoons to television series to movies, women are portrayed as having an in charge—don't need a guy—I'm powerful, traditional marriage and family and morals are outdated—I have the right to rule—how dare you tell me what to do—mentality.' Seriously? I can't think of a child's cartoon that fits this description, but I suppose there are some. I haven't come across any myself.
I realize some of those shows deal with some touchy subjects at times, but again in the past they were present but were taboo to speak about. Instead of this 'its all about me' theme she seems to be hinting at? I think it is more like we need to keep those 'uglies' in the closet like the good old days.
Men are now shown as idiots
YET if you look at comedy in the past they are following the same formula that worked for laughs.
You always had a straight man, and then the fall guy.
Lucille Ball for example was the fall guy in her shows. Desi her husband was a bit over the top like the spouses in today's show. The roles are reversed, but we still have the straight man and the fall guy.
Why do people take this stuff so seriously? Mary Tyler Moore was honored for her show, but Murphy Brown and Ellen took loads of heat over their characters. Why didn't she mention that part?
As they would say, Where is the other side of the story?
Sex in the City
Now days, the epitome of empowered womanhood is to live a self-serving, self-righteous, neurotic, narcissistic, superficial, and adulteress life. The main character in Sex in the City series wraps it up well when she counsels women that, “The most exciting, challenging, and significant relationship of all is the one you have with yourself.”
So in a few short decades in the span of my lifetime, the ideal of a happy, fulfilled woman has gone from one who serves and exalts her children, her husband, and her community to one who serves and exalts herself and has a very different type of commitment, very different type of idea towards men and women. This begs the question, how did this all happen? How did it all happen?
The factors are many and complex, but a very large piece of the puzzle is feminism. Feminism is a distinct philosophy that shook the underpinnings of society in the early 1960s like a tsunamic earthquake shaking the ocean's floor. Feminism is an “ism” like atheism, humanism, Marxism, existentialism, post-modernism, the “ism” indicates that we are dealing with a theory, a philosophical theory, a doctrine, a system of principles and ideas.
Feminism encompasses much more than the cultural pursuit of women's rights movement. It's more than yesterday's fashion. It's more than a neglected piece of hippie beads hanging in the back of our mothers' closets. Feminism is a distinct worldview. It's a distinct worldview with its very own thoughts, its ideologies, values, ways of thinking, and whether or not you would admit it, whether or not you know it, all of us in this room have been profoundly affected by feminist thought.
I have never watched the show Sex in the City. I have to admit that now. People that have Jesus in their hearts aren't going to be saying "I" am the most important aspect of my life. YES the world can be very selfish, narcissistic, and all the rest. That aspect of the human race didn't just pop up within the last century, but yes it is more 'in your face' now.
When people are confident in themselves, in their lifes, in their faith, etc. they aren't going jump into another distinct worldview. What they don't seem to touch on is HOW did these people become so broken? She is correct there are MANY factors that are very complex.
How it turned from many major factors that are complex to mostly feminism? WELL again if you look at history there was always targets for the world's woes. She throws those 'many factors' to the side, and targets her overly defined definition of feminism. THAT to me makes her message suspect.
See how it happened?
Now, some of you may think that what we're doing this morning as an intellectual foray into the past, philosophy is an exercise in futility. But ladies, it's the student of history who understands current culture and is equipped to envision a path for the future. During a time of national turmoil, the nation of Israel was served by the men of Issachar, men, Scripture tells us, according to 1 Chronicles 12:32, “who understood the times and knew what Israel should do.” So my purpose this morning is to help you understand the times.I think she has a partial understanding of what is going on today, and sadly I don't think she will use the parts she left out. I think you can make better decisions when you deal with the whole truth of things, and not parts of it. She is painting with her brush very broadly, and NO that doesn't give you a good understanding of the uglies of today.
See, I want you to understand the times so that you know what to do and you know how to live. I'm praying that God is going to raise up a counter-revolution of women, women who hold the knowledge of our times in one hand and the truth and the clarity and the charity of the Word of God in the other; women whose hearts are broken over the gender confusion and the spiritual and emotional and relational carnage of our day and who, like those men of old, know what to do.
I don't think labeling most women as Murphy, Ellen or Sex in City types is realistic. I don't think taking a formula for comedies having a fall guy and straight man - stating since most popular comics are male says society thinks men are all dummies is realistic either. I mean it would be kind of silly to ask the comic to play the straight guy when that part isn't the role that makes his audience enjoy them would it?
I think we can all agree there are aspects of today's society that are ugly, and very hard to deal with. There are men and women feeling totally entitled to whatever is on their mind, and NO they don't have an issue with tromping people on their way to get it.
So in a few short decades in the span of my lifetime, the ideal of a happy, fulfilled woman has gone from one who serves and exalts her children, her husband, and her community to one who serves and exalts herself and has a very different type of commitment, very different type of idea towards men and women. This begs the question, how did this all happen? How did it all happen?
That is what happened Mary!
You don't ignore issues of the past, and throw venom at those that point it out and NOT expect some backlash.
You don't tell those in society that you are happy, fulfilled as you serve your family/husband when you know they are getting beaten and abused. They know you are lying, and they know their life is a lie. Telling them feminists made them THINK like this is a lie as well.
We had to much of society PRETENDING they had the happy home life, because they were ignored and shunned if they didn't stay in the box.
We had a family in our neighborhood where the children and wife were viciously beaten on a regular basis. There were all kinds of roadblocks built for that family, and those trying to help them. WHY do we wonder NOW what the reason is that those children themselves grew up to be animals to others? Did that family NOT pretend good enough?
Silence, Secrets and placing a good strong front for the world doesn't work. Telling women they need to be June Cleaver and not Murphy Brown? Most of the world isn't close to either. What are they suppose to get out of that message?
Feminism isn't the problem. Its not allowing people to be real. Its telling that they have to live this cultural norm, and those parts that don't fit? You discourage people from showing others or getting help by the shameful reactions, and lack of empathy or concern.
You have to wonder how much the world would change if just THOSE aspects were addressed, and how much everyone would prosper.
People look for other things, because what they were told were good - were lies. It was a game society played, and not the true deal. It was an illusion, and just because we can name a few people that lived it? Doesn't change the reality of those that didn't.
We wouldn't have a president that was crippled, and it had to be hidden from society if we didn't have secrets. We wouldn't have had another president sleeping around if people didn't keep his secret. We had the press and others cover things up to make things look so rosy.
From where I stand it sounds like people still think that illusion is needed, and we are to uppity to face the reality of people's lifes. That is what caused the emotional carnage. You can't ignore things like we did in the past, and not expect some repercussions. That's not feminism - its common sense.
For me? I think they value the illusion more, and do not have the proper fear of God. If that was NOT the case they would tell all sides of the truth, and face the uglies of this life - and stop telling people to play June Cleaver.
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5 comments:
OK I got to confront this here, because so much of it is just pure unadulterated crap. Let's begin with this, [not directed towards you Hannah but at the twisting of so much here by the Kassian types]
The factors are many and complex, but a very large piece of the puzzle is feminism. Feminism is a distinct philosophy that shook the underpinnings of society in the early 1960s like a tsunamic earthquake shaking the ocean's floor. Feminism is an “ism” like atheism, humanism, Marxism, existentialism, post-modernism, the “ism” indicates that we are dealing with a theory, a philosophical theory, a doctrine, a system of principles and ideas.
uh, NO, feminism is a Variety of gender philosophy and they don't all fall under 'isms' because WOMEN ARE NOT ISMS.
Patriarchy made women Isms, not feminism...and AS for the constructs that have HIJACKED FEMINISM you can blame that on the real culprit, CAPITALISM, fact. Feminism in the west has Always been utilized by Patriarchy and Religion for labor pooling/control, FACT, when it was vital for capitalist society THEN women's issues were allowed, when it was not vital then those same issues were pushed back into the closet so to speak,
as the Market grew internationally so did feminist ideology Change to meet the demands of the market, both in Labor AND IN CONSUMPTION, esp consumption because Women are the CORE of consumers, FACT. If not buying they are BOUGHT FOR, as women are THE commodity and the more a man can 'adorn' her or 'pacify' her for sexual Favors, the more is consumed therefore the market grows, that is why it's Demand and Supply. con't
Secondly, I'd love to go into real depth on this and expose the true culprit of the demise in feminism & women's human rights Being yes the American Western Roman centered pagan 'lie' of Christiandumb but I don't have the room here to do so,
but I want to also confront these shows, one could yes View them in this negative light as Those aspects yes are true, but that is only looking at it half ass,
which is what Christiandumb land loves to do, focus on the Evil, because that is what they WORSHIP, is EVIL,
why they so adapt in pulling those evil specks out all the time like the Good Pharisees they are. Anyhoo, let's pull out the scales and look at the OTHER end of the pole so to speak,
Mary Tyler Moore Positives, women not having to tolerate and normalize and internalize Sexual Harassment on the job, that a
woman could be valued in labor other than for putting out twat if I can be so blunt...Mary Tyler Moore show was one of the First if not THE first to tackle this...in almost Every episode. Maybe Kassian would like to see all daughters back in pole dancing, saloon brothels and street corners and on knees in offices that DID go on, for those Widows, Single mothers whose husbands left for Younger women who were 'hotter' back in the Good ole Days, etc.
con't
con't Murphy Brown...a show I did love, and the single parent hell didn't even Come until the very last two seasons of the show, good grief, can't believe That is what is focused on...the Show back to the Open Eye scales was about the confronting of the female reporter, being Seriously taken in Interviews & Politics rather than as EYE CANDY that had been the Norm and sadly still is today [by some], and the media negative influences ON our daughters, that have contributed to lets see,
anorexia, sexual debasement to 'be affirmed by males', uh, a revival of sex industry to be affirmed by males Thank you Conservative BACKLASH, you can congrat yourselves for the BOOST IN PORN AND CHILD PORN, uh, the fact that Hard work By women, such as reporters and those in politics were overlooked OR contributed to the always myth of 'she slept her way to the top' when in fact SHE worked hard, was GOOD at her job and professional and Murphy Brown revealed that more than any show at that time...
She could tackle the interviews with terrorists as DID Barbara Walters but Because Walters wasn't some pussy cat eye candy playboy bunny a lot of her work was overlooked, work that need I remind you Kassian and your types, back in THAT day WARNED OF TERRORISM THAT MEN WRAPPED UP IN 'DID HE HAVE SEX OR NOT WITH THE CIGAR STARR REPORT' did not take seriously and alas, 9-11 happened,
but in Her day, a Woman DID take these things seriously...several of them did in fact, MEN missed it, Women did not--one of the Best interviews Reporters who tackled Yassur Arafat was Oriana Fallaci, a woman that Murphy Brown's show did a similar character/story make up of...oh How we Neglect THOSE important improvements that not only were good for Women but good for All of us. But alas maybe Kassian types would like to go back to the age where women were illiterate and only time they realized when all hell broke loose was when they were on their backs under men being raped during Wartime...or working in soldier ;) dance halls...con't
con't, last but not least, Sex in the City...well Again, we could Focus on the narcissistic aspect, Never mind that MEN have been experts at narcissism for centuries and That is praised, again Good grief,
the focus on the show has to do with the Article that the one main character writes, sex as in Gender, in the city, the single generation working in Corporate Capitalist Cubicle Fascist [thank you conservs] society and trying to form long term relationships with the good and bad, as the Show does mention BOTH, of the adaptations that men and women are dealing with IN these changes...that have to Do with dealing with time frames, biological clocks, cost of living esp with children, the pressure to succeed and so forth and Then all the social temptations...
one of the good things about the show that I remember though it wasn't one I watched consistently was where the main character went to a type of woman swapping party [which are notorious in good ole Baptist towns I might add, I know grew up seeing it], anyhow, this main character liberal as she may be, decided that it was better to stay True to her own moral values in spite of the pressures and possible ridicule and there were Numerous episodes that went into the moral dilemma's our young adults are faced with today...and the question of gender and gender constructs and narcissism is the Last thing this show is about because through the entire show the core is about the duty to be Loyal to family and friends in spite of a materialist society that is money and success driven and how women must find balance between,
so you see, IF one wants to look for the speck I'm sure one can find them...and then utilize that to push us back Into the Islamic dark ages, glorifying forced marriage/rape, domestic violence, marital rape, the Beaver woman on the Uppers and Downers to do all those Superwoman Appliance Worshiping scripts outlined for her--so that the barons can line their pockets with wealth and raise greedy little white children, pillaging and enslaving those colored women of other countries forcing Them to work outside the home while having 13 children all starving and dying of disease,
yep, the Kassian type of America. I'd rather work through the Sex in the City types and arrive at some sort of balance, than to go back and prop up not only evil but a narcissism that is nothing more than the propping up of Nero all over again.
Jane
Well said Hannah & Jane!
Looks like Kassian's goal is to send all women except herself and Phyllus Schafly, etc, back to our male-controlled boxes, where we can adore our husbands and children, instead of God, where we can look at the world through rose-colored glasses instead of through clear reality-glasses, where we pretend we are not being abused even though we are, where women stay at home in their male-controlled boxes and make their husbands their god, instead of practice Isaiah 58 and work to free themselves and others from oppression.
My question is: why would Kassian want all us women to go home and become the adoring cleaning staff while she maintains a job away from home? Does she not realize that with the rules of her denomination, if women stopped going to her college, she'd be out of a job and have to do her own house cleaning? If she wants to stay home that badly, why doesn't she just stay home, instead of telling all other women they must stay home, too? Are we to infer Mary Kassian teaches at college because her husband tells her to even though she'd rather stay home? or is she getting extra jam on her buttered bread for saying this stuff?
I am not attempting to assasinate Kassians character or choices. I just think it odd that a person who is in the public eye like she is would advocate for sending women back home to where they have fewer choices and less control over their lives. Something stinks in her woodpile.
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