Feminism need not mean spurning the art of nurturing, but all too often, modern individualist feminism does just that.
A lovely book that pulls at your heart strings, “The Giving Tree” by Shel Silverstien, tells a touching story of generosity, of seeing oneself as part of a greater whole, and finally, a happy reunion in a complete relationship.
The librarian at Runkle school, Brookline Mass., circa 1978, dismissed it curtly, “I can’t stand that book, it is SO sexist! I mean the Giving Tree is in the feminine voice, giving to a boy all the time, horrible!”
It was as if she had blithely ripped up your favorite picture, torn the head off a treasured childhood doll, teased your best friend til she made her cry while you stood there helpless on the sidelines.
That librarian threw the beauty of the human experience, the ability to selflessly and lovingly give, to the ground in the name of a so-called feminism which really amounts to a terrible selfishness.
If she had said, “I like the giving aspect of the story, and I wonder what it would be like if the Giving Tree was in the male voice and the receiver a girl?” The spirit of generosity would have been preserved while gender roles reassigned in a way that would not trash what people need.
People need to love and be loved, they need to give and receive without any strings attached, this is a divine side of humanity which should be celebrated!
Yet individualist feminism has amounted to putting oneself in the center of the universe, with women thinking about how to get and grab, how to scorn and sneer, how to meanly dismiss the theme of giving, dismiss putting others first, dismiss seeing oneself as a smaller part of a greater whole, and even cast aspersions upon the adoption of children from another race, as in the case of Amy Coney Barrett, whom feminists should be celebrating. Oddly, they are not.
Modern feminism has robbed women of what they deeply need to do, and that is nurture and form healthy social relationships via giving.
Do not fall prey to it.
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