I think perhaps the world envies me my womanhood.

Isn't this one of the most beautiful dresses you've ever seen (though wearing it might be a bit too revealing, it is stunningly beautiful!)?

I have recently pondered femininity and its seeming resurgence. Activities like cooking, sewing, child-rearing, gardening, and decorating seem to have more subscribers than I remember. Fashions like vintage dresses are booming. The joy of being a girl and a woman is bursting forth onto many different secular scenes, appearing to be uncontainable.

I believe there is freedom in being a 'keeper of the home'. Much like an artist finds freedom of self-expression in a certain medium, women can find freedom by expressing their identity and values on the canvas of their home. I long for the satisfaction of organizing and keeping the home. Giving 10 hours of my day to a commute and office work is becoming harder and harder. Being a prolific blog reader, I now encounter the longing for this joy where once there was the flexing of the strong female arm in keeping up with Mr. Jones.

I'm not saying every woman is called to the home. But I have to wonder when the secular masses (and the products they buy) start expressing a longing for home economics & femininity. Is it a reaction to discovering the career-driven generation ahead of us are tired, burned out, and joyless? This brings me to a post I wrote over three years ago that still appears to ring true:

'My roommate and I were discussing themes we discovered in the writings of three females from the generation of women's rights (two were Christian). Two particular themes were taking care of yourself and despair. The last one surprised me in it's intensity. When the feminist movement took place, it was built on an already philosophical shift to modern thought which focused first on self. Such philosophy is reflected notably in Nora Ephron's book: I feel bad about my neck.

Thus, women started investing in their careers, divorcing their husbands, and making an amazing art out of parenting so that those who did stay home could justify child rearing by turning it into a veritable profession (Nora speaks of this in her book). They were "free" to listen to their wants and act on them. In fact, it was "right" to do this. Modern woman grew up saying and living by this mantra: 'listen to your body and do what it says'.

Sadly, that generation is getting old and facing death and what they communicate through books, movies, etc. is despair and denial. The natural outcome of their approach is a huge weight of responsibility on the individual for meaning in life. They spent their days listening to themselves and look back to find nothing and they can't even bear to look forward because they find nothing there either. It's depressing. Nora ends her book going from a paragraph on death to using her favorite bath oil. She comes right up to death but can't bear to go beyond it.

Christianity is shocking in comparison. We die to ourselves. We have hope instead of despair. We look beyond death. Even if our answers don't make sense to a non-Christian, at least they can see we're brave enough to ask. Nora's use of denial is unmistakable and glaring. And so I'm glad - glad that Christianity is shockingly upside down from modernism. "

God created the woman to 'help' and there we find a concentration on others instead of self. He created us with curves and beauty and not the strong arm of the male. We are not to keep up with Mr. Jones, we are reveling in being Ms. or Mrs. Jones (with all her womanly intelligence and strength). Importantly, we find the weight of meaning for life carried by the One who designed us. By acting according to His instructions we can live joyfully and die joyfully. This is shocking to the world and may be just the thing for which they truly long and deeply search.