The Truths About Feminism and Masculinity – Part 1

Authentic Catholics do not agree with hard-core feminism, so-called toxic masculinity, and society’s intent to feminize males. We reject these views because they undermine both the natural and supernatural roles of men and women. 

Catholics are to uphold the natural order of the sexes not because it is the old-fashioned thing to believe, but because it has always been true since God created male and female in the Book of Genesis.  Respect for the traditional roles for men and women is not about power and dominance but about orderliness. Society prospers and souls are sanctified when males and females are faithful to God’s creative purposes for them.

Marriages and the family unit formation involve openness to some fluidity in the roles of the sexes. We don’t want any of the extremes – the maniacal feminist version that desires women be just like men, the oppressively rigid sexual stereotype version which ranks women inferior to men, nor the demasculinizing version that aims to feminize men so to eliminate any patriarchal leadership in the home or the Church. The version of feminism-vs-masculism that makes sense is in the middle of these extremes and is what the Catholic Church promotes – complementarianism.

This 2-part series will explain complementarianism as well as clarify the dangers of radical feminism, the falsehood of toxic masculinity, and the need for Catholics to be counter-cultural by pushing against these erroneous and anti-Christian belief systems.

First up in part 1 – the truths about feminism.

How Times Have Changed!

Up until about 50 years ago in America, the large majority of families had a husband/father who worked full-time outside of the home and a wife/mother who worked full-time inside the home and around her children. According to government data, there has been a huge increase in the past 50 years in the number of mothers with children who work outside the home.

• In 1975, 34% of mothers with children under the age of 3 were in the workforce. In 2025, this number increased to 65%.
• In 1975, 47% of mothers with children ages 18 or younger worked outside the home. Fifty years later this is now 74%.

Much of this change in males’ and females’ roles that came about beginning in the 1970’s was due to the sexual revolution and radical feminism movement. American society started seeing a dramatic change in having more and more women join the workforce and families becoming dual-income. 

This whopping increase in moms working outside the home not only had a significant impact on the way families lived, but created a culture where “housewife” became a derogatory word. To be a housewife was patriarchal and demeaning. Whereas to be a feminist was justifiable and laudatory.

Today’s feminists reject the Christian understanding of equality. We believe women are equal to men in dignity but not in biology. They argue that anything a man can do, a woman can do. 

Feminism encourages women into the workforce to focus on careers regardless if it means their children will suffer emotionally. The more that mothers are in the workplace, the more that young children will be passed along from daycare to school to after-school activities to latchkey isolation. The result is the parents are not the ones raising the kids.

The negative outcomes of moms working full-time outside the home is that their children are worse off as evidenced by increases in children’s obesity, sexually transmitted diseases, mental health problems, and use of psychiatric medication.

Two Waves of the Feminist Movement

Most people viewed the initial feminist movement of the 19th century and early 20th century as admirable. It pushed for basic rights for women, such as to be able to vote and protection from abuse.

But then came the second wave feminist movement of the past 50-some years. Today’s feminist movement is unhinged and outlandish. It despises motherhood, bashes the opposite sex’s masculinity, and attempts to sabotage the natural hierarchies in both the family and the Church.  The radical feminist movement has been the enemy of the traditional family model of a working husband/father and a homemaker wife/mother. 

A hundred years ago, Catholic thinker G.K. Chesterton recognized the reality of women’s oppression at the time and the need for the first wave of feminism. But he warned against the dangers of feminism if it goes too far. His prediction and worry about a second wave of radical feminism came true. Chesterton objected to extreme feminism’s methods of remedying oppression to females as he realized it would be creating feminists who “dislike the chief feminine characteristics,” and as a result, seek to “destroy womanhood.” 

The modern wave of feminism is radical and maniacal in how it seeks to “equalize” men and women through the abolition of sexual differences. In doing so, it erases a female’s unique qualities and roles, encouraging women to mimic men.

Radical feminism attempts to keep women out of the home and away from their children. Some would even argue feminism abhors the idea of women having babies, hence the rise of both abortion and the use of the birth control pill during this same 50-year period.

A 2009 study issued by the National Bureau of Economic Research revealed that women are not growing happier as they embrace extreme feminist ideals. Twenty-first century women are depressed and even suicidal at higher rates than any other era.

The progressive, extreme feminist movement pushes against our human nature, and so the result is unhappy women who aren’t able to do what comes naturally to them. What should be natural is to love their masculine male partners, to combine their feminine talents with his in raising their families, and to make homemaking their priority job over any other career.

Females Are Supposed To Be Different Than Males

Women were created as the better sex to care for young children as for the most part they have been naturally more nurturing. In the same way, men were made to be providers as for the most part they have been naturally more competitive and physically stronger. These distinct, complementary differences were built into who females and males are as distinct images of God.

Males and females are uniquely suited to different and complementary roles in God’s plan. This plan includes a family’s optimal situation to be one in which a masculine-heavy husband/dad and a feminine-heavy wife/mom join together to raise their children. 

Complementarianism is the belief that men and women have separate, though equal, roles in marriage and family life. The word derives from the word “complement.” Just like complementary colors work well together to create beauty, males and females complement each other for a more beautiful whole.

The specialness of God’s creation of complementarianism between men and women, not only in physical reality, but in personalities allows mom and dad to each play different, but essential roles in their children’s development.

Women are uniquely special in how they can give birth and be mothers. Females are different from males in how they are typically more modest, more pure, and more emotionally present for their children. No one in the family is better equipped than the mother to act as her children’s teacher, chef and nutritionist, amateur child psychologist, and emergency medic.

In the same way, men as fathers relate to and treat their children differently than female mothers. A young son has different struggles than a family’s daughter. The father’s unique experiences, knowledge, and innate, masculine behaviors often are more needed and better suited to help his son face growing pains that mothers can’t relate to or assist. As for his relationship with his daughter, most dads better provide her with the security and protection she requires.

Authentic Catholicism upholds the dignity of women not by equalizing them with men in every role, but by honoring their distinct vocation. 

Our Young Girls Are Being Raised Improperly

Today’s feminist movement spews false ideas about femininity. The culture tells us that the traditional feminine traits, such as nurturing, affectionate, and submissive, are evil. Girls need to grow up rejecting this falsehood and taking pride in traditional, God-given feminine traits. 

Mothers of girls and other role models for young ladies (such as female teachers and coaches) should affirm to the females under their care that true femininity is nothing to be ashamed. The journey towards becoming a woman is something good God planned for them. 

The adults in a girl’s life must not shy away from promoting the natural traits of femininity to their proteges. These traits include the beauty of womanhood and the innate desire to eventually assume the most sacred, natural role as a nurturing mother.  

One false idea about femininity that the world is telling young ladies is about what makes a woman beautiful. Beauty does not stem from the unachievable or immodest ideal of appearance that the advertising industry and social media promote. Rather, one sees a truly beautiful girl or woman when looking at her character and virtues. Moms and dads can never state this enough to their daughters these days.

The world today wants us to believe that there are no inherent differences in masculinity and femininity. To go along with this, society says there is no difference between a traditional/natural marriage and a so-called gay marriage. The world also does not give primacy to the father of the family as its head. 

To counter this propaganda, Catholic parents must vigorously teach their children that the God-created distinctions in males and females bring out the best of both worlds. When we acknowledge that there are logical and theological reasons for men and women to be different, we are affirming that God created the complementarianism for a reason.

Secular Society Is the Enemy of Authentic Femininity, Authentic Masculinity, and the Family

Our Almighty Father created men and women to be united in one flesh, to exist for the other, to work together for both their good and the good of their sons and daughters. Radical feminism does not recognize and appreciate these purposefully designed gifts of both sexes. Instead, it aims to eradicate gender roles. Thus it cannot be endorsed by authentic Catholics. 

Our Lord wanted a man and woman to join together in conjugal love to reproduce, and He wanted them to be uniquely male and female so that their differences from one another would balance out, supplement, and create a complete, effective whole.  

God created the family unit, and now our godless culture sees as its job to destroy it. The enemy plays every angle in their effort to destroy our Creator’s beautifully designed families. Radicalizing feminists and demasculinizing males are big components of the enemy’s playbook.

Part 2 will address the masculinity side of the issue.