Is society on a moral decline? Is feminism to blame?

I have always had faith in mankind. I love men and I love women too. I have written before about whether men are in crisis – I do believe that feminism has had some very negative impacts on our culture, and men have suffered alongside women with the changes.

Feminism in the 60s and 70s

We all wanted changes, things weren’t working out the way they were. Women felt oppressed and like second-class citizens. Men felt burdened, times were tough. What has changed? What are some of the achievements of feminism? So you don’t get my personal opinion, I have consulted About.com’s Women’s History page. I think you will be shocked at what it says:

1. Rethinking society with feminist theory
2. Abortion on demand
3. Equality legislation
4. “De-Sexing the English Language”
5. Better education

Honestly, I think the only thing of value (at all) on that list is number 5 and I seriously doubt that feminism of the 60s and 70s actually added anything at all to education in general. From my research, women in Ancient Rome had it pretty good, “Among the upper classes, women seem to have been well-educated, some highly so, and were sometimes praised by the male historians for their learning and cultivation.”

However, it is worth noting that: “Freeborn women in ancient Rome were citizens (cives), but could not vote or hold political office.”

How feminism of the 60s changed women in future generations

I will not be popular for saying this, but I truly believe that abortion and access to the contraceptive pill are two of the things that have altered the path of this planet (and its people) for generations to come. I was raised in a liberal, feminist household (as were most of my colleagues and friends) and I live in a free and liberal country. Abortion and birth control are widely accepted – even encouraged – in many cases.

Is society on a moral decline?

What do you think? How do you feel? We all know that each generation blames the one before for all the things that went wrong – surely this is natural? There is an argument that things are not getting worse, it’s just that we forget that the tastes and desires of the new generation is different to the old. You only need to listen to the Rolling Stones to see that what was once cool and revolutionary is now old, sad and tired…and replaced with a new dynamic.