One excerpt stuck me:

“Conservatives and liberals won’t agree on the means, but they ought to agree on the end: a nation where it’s easier to balance work and child-rearing, however you think that balance should be struck.”

In America, we have a culture that not only lacks a balance of work and child-rearing but truly lacks the ability to balance all areas of life. Work often comes at the expense of health, friendships, relationships, personal care, leisure time, rest, time with God, etc. After having lived outside the country for a year, I have seen this inability to balance since I’ve come come a month ago. A lot of disatisfaction is not merely a product of women’s liberation, but anguish is a result of being women with inconsistent images and expectations in a fast paced, unforgiving, competitive culture.

If you’ve lived outside of America in a hierarchical and patriarchal culture, you become more grateful for feminism and the movements for women’s empowerment in a lot of ways. I am thankful that I can go out after the sun is down and do not have to worry about being harassed and my reputation. Men and women will listen my opinions and will not immediately dismiss me because of my gender. I am not an object of blame for any decisions which were not in my control. (So many women get blamed if a man is attracted to them and wants to act on his lust–even if she is not returning the actions or is trying to avoid a rape situation.) I can be educated and am allowed to express myself in both emotions and intellectual thoughts without being ashamed or silenced. I can vote. I can pursue my dream of professional ordained ministry (my denomination allows it.) Taking my spouse’s consideration, I can choose how I divide my time with career or family. While I was gone, I saw so many women abroad become anguished with their positions. They expressed a desire for more personal freedom and could not believe that I abandoned “my freedom” for a year to live with them.

And yes, I agree traditional feminism does not satisfy in the end, but simply knocking on it does not move us forward either. I agree that we must assess the consequences–positive and negative–from those earlier movements. However, it is difficult for us to understand a world that was before it–especially in my case because I’m in my mid-twenties. Everyone deserves a full self-hood in Christ. True freedom is in Christ. (Col. 5:1) As Shannon said, a full, whole relationshipn with God only satisfies in the end.