Cultural Dilemma

Most of the built-in dilemmas that face human beings in our fast-changing world pose problems for which the wisdom of the past offers no effective solutions. In so many ways we're like a man chased to the edge of a cliff by a roaring lion. If he jumps, he'll be hurt. And if he stays there, the lion's going to get him. For example, we have built-in sexual drives that become strong in the teen years. Marriage may seem to offer a solution. Yet, the marriage counselors advise us that early marriages have a greater rate of divorce— that a person needs to experience life and achieve a degree of maturity before choosing a life partner.The individual suffers no matter how he tries to solve the problem. If a person has an active sex life before marriage, the mores of our tribe may load him with feelings of guilt. If an unmarried person denies his need for sexual expression, he may enjoy a culturally-clean conscience, but he will be fighting a constantly stimulated, deep need that has been structured into his body. Guilt feelings may still arise from vivid sexual fantasies, erotic dreams, or masturbation.

No matter what choice a person makes in this situation, it is usually accompanied by conflict and doubt. Not only in matters of sex, but in most business, personal, and social matters we are confronted with countless dilemmas. Our present folkways make it difficult to achieve effective solutions that deeply contribute to human dignity and happiness.

The Quandary of Women

It is quite possible that most women in our rapidly changing civilization have a rougher time of it than men. A woman who lived on a farm two centuries ago was deeply needed and felt secure. She and her home were the center of vocation, recreation, and education. Although she worked hard, she was psychologically secure in her own feeling of worth. She was confident of the great need which she supplied in the lives of her husband and children. Today, household gadgets have relieved woman of some of the work, but the secure emotional foundations of her life have been largely swept away. The home is no longer the place where the family makes its living. Factories and offices beckon the father to a world of business not shared by the rest of his family. Schools grab up the children and take over the responsibility for educating them—frequently, in a way that is quite different from the training of the parents. Although television has added to the recreational aspect of modern homes, most of the really exciting things happen away from home. Automobiles scatter the family in all directions, and the home is often used primarily as a hotel in which to eat and sleep.

The modern housewife is expected to be a fascinating and energetic companion to her husband. She
must meet the endless needs of her children. And at the same time she must operate the household,
including food-gathering at the grocery store. In addition to these three full-time occupations which stretch her out pretty thin, she should find time to develop her own mind and body, including frequent trips to the beauty salon. After a number of years of this tearing in every direction, most wives begin to feel that, "Life is passing me by." They begin to question their self-worth. They realize that they are needed less and less by their husbands and children. Unhappiness, divorce, suicide bitterness, and blighted personalities are often the consequences of our rapidly changing culture.