Tea at Trianon: The Feminist Revolution

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Saturday, March 17, 2007

The Feminist Revolution

Are women running out of men to marry? (A provocative offering from Lew Rockwell.) Yes, sometimes it does seem that way. I know so many lovely, devout, well-educated Catholic ladies in their late twenties and early thirties who cannot find a spouse. They have lucrative careers and graduate degrees but they do not have what they really want-- a husband and a baby. I think we educate our young women to take their place in "man's world" but then they are at a loss as to how to create a feminine role for themselves. Maybe we need to educate women differently from men. Not in a way that would be inferior, but with more of an emphasis on the values that help women to be effective in obtaining the things that really bring them fulfillment. Share

12 comments:

Anonymous said...: Perhaps they veer toward careers because after one has met and not been attracted to the Catholics of one's area....then one must get on with surviving and having interests of a secular nature. With a high divorce rate amongst Catholics also, trust in others does not come easy. So reality...not just training...is part of the problem.

bill bannon; March 17, 2007 at 11:34:00 AM EDT
elena maria vidal said...: I think you are absolutely right, Mr. Bannon. I wish I knew what could be done to change things.; March 17, 2007 at 11:43:00 AM EDT
Anonymous said...: Women with little education also have problems finding a husband. My wife teaches at a two-year business school and most of her students are nineteen - 21 year old unwed mothers. I think Bill Bannon is correct. People are hesitant to commit to each other.; March 17, 2007 at 12:22:00 PM EDT
Anonymous said...: Good article, EMV.

I have also observed there are far fewer marriageable men for the single ladies I know. I think the real culprit for the great dearth of successful, educated men is feminism itself. After so many years of putting down men (as if they were the enemy) in order to "lift women up", the egos and self confidence of many young men have been thoroughly eroded. Men's natures are to be leaders, at least in their own homes. Re-educating them (as the social engineers have so cleverly done) for more than a generation has left these young men powerless and confused about their duties and roles, and they are left drifting. Combine this with the broken homes many of them come out of -- we can thank the feminists for the "great victory" of no-fault divorce that has made this all possible -- and the recipe is perfect for creating a whole generation of aimlessly-wandering male underachievers. And then the feminists have the audacity to complain that there are "no real men to take charge" -- the male personality they crave and want to marry! But what else could they have expected to come out of their cherished ideology? The really sad thing is that the good and devout ladies also suffer the same fate as the feminists who espoused it and made it all happen.

I think reeducation does need to happen. The problem is, strong men in the home and in the priesthood and other leadership roles, need to set the examples for the generations coming up; and it needs to happen pretty fast. Otherwise, if we continue on the present course, there will no longer BE any strong male role models available.; March 17, 2007 at 12:36:00 PM EDT
elena maria vidal said...: I totally agree with you, Georgette. Your comment is better than the original article. Thanks!; March 17, 2007 at 1:49:00 PM EDT
Anonymous said...: I think it is because young women nowadays are more particular when choosing a husband. In my day one married regardless, that was the aim, otherwise there was something wrong with you. Nowadays it is not a blot against a young woman if she waits for the right man to come along. Unfortunately,she waits and waits and waits until Mr. Perfect shows up and that is not going to happen.....then it is too late.; March 17, 2007 at 4:16:00 PM EDT
PV said...: Alice is right. I would like to add something to her comment. Not only women, but men also wait and wait and wait for that elusive "The One". We live in an too individualistic society.

I live in Germany (I am European) and I can tell you that here the mantra of a very large part of the single people is "I wait for The One".

From what I know, I dare to say that the situation here in Europe is much dire than over there at you: the perspectives of a decent Catholic woman to get married to a decent Catholic man are very thin. Simply because there are very few men from that category. The society is highly (excessively) secularized.

Even the chances to get married at all (regardless the confession) are not very good: not too many people get married nowadays. And when they do the chances of divorcing are quite high.

Another point is that 99% of the men here, fully expect sex before marriage followed eventually by living in cohabitation as prerequisites of marriage. Needless to say this is not what a decent Catholic woman do before marriage.

Dear Elena Maria Vidal,I like so much your blog. Allow me to add it at my blog´s list.

Please forgive any language errors. English is not my native tongue.; March 18, 2007 at 2:29:00 AM EDT
elena maria vidal said...: Thank you, Paula for your reflections! I would be honored for you to add this blog to your blogroll, and I will do the same.; March 18, 2007 at 7:55:00 AM EDT
Athanasius said...: I think the feminist movement was able (and is able) to do what it has done because men enabled them to do it. Consider society and culture in the 40's and 50's, the shows on television, Dick van Dyke and other absurdities who depicted the housewife as someone who just cooks and wears ugly dresses. A lot of women revolted against that. Then when we look at sexual liberation, immodesty, it was men who enabled that, men who first put that grand slut Maralyn Monroe on the pages of magazines, and it was Catholic and Christian men who did not stand up to the plate to demand modesty. Many women for example, who are married and Catholic often do not occupy a wifely role because the husband does not occupy a truly fatherly and husbandly role. I read a letter of a homeschooling mother to the editor of the Remnant talking about the problems of raising her child. The letter screamed without words this one thing: The Father is not involved. Where are Catholic Fathers? I would contend that there are a bunch of boys masquerading as men who simply had no real father. I work as a retail manager in spite of all the money I invested in a Theology degree I will likely never use again, and sadly I have to work with boys who are 21, 25, 31, and they all act like a bunch of immature 12 year olds. Why? Because of not having fathers, and only mothers and feminists.
Therefore I would suggest it was men who enabled the feminists by not stepping up to the plate that has created the situation of liberated women and immature boys pretending to be men.; March 18, 2007 at 8:44:00 PM EDT
elena maria vidal said...: Athanasius, what a perfect comment for Saint Joseph's day.; March 18, 2007 at 9:36:00 PM EDT
Anonymous said...: I am a Catholic father and husband, married to my wife for 26 years. With all due respect, the understanding of feminism displayed in these comments is a little fuzzy and hyperbolic to be useful as an explanation for so many in the single state. It is not necessary to overthrow the male in order for women to attain political and social equality. If there is a problem, it seems to me that it is just as likely to be some notion of romantic love that assumes cinematic values: the one true love that completes one as a person. Well, that One True Love isn't going to be your spouse --- you're putting too much upon a human relationship. But this unrealistic expectation colors the way in which single people interact with each other.

For the record, I work at a Catholic college (and have for my entire professional life). This is an interesting blog --- I was lead to it through your appearance on EWTN, Ms. Vidal.

Just my two cents. Thanks!

Simon; March 20, 2007 at 8:32:00 AM EDT
elena maria vidal said...: Thanks, Simon, for the kind words. Yes, I think the unrealistic expectations of One True Love has a lot to do with it. In the past, marriages were arranged by parents based on other considerations.; March 20, 2007 at 8:51:00 AM EDT