Almost every woman I know, and probably most I don’t, are waiting for their knight-in-shining-armor to sweep them off their feet and ride away into the sunset. Girls are taught from a very young age that we need to hold out for our hero to save the day. Love songs and fairy tales teach us about romance and living happily ever after, but can it really happen? It can. I believe that the skill every woman should learn is to make their husband their hero.
Everyday the media tells woman that they are powerful and strong, but what does popular media tell men? Watch a sitcom any day of the night and you will see men depicted as ignorant, clumsy, lacking in social skills and driven by uncontrollable libido. Are these the type of men that women dreamed about marrying? In The Family: A Proclamation to the World it states;
By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners.
To say that a woman should be meek and submissive can cause conflict in both men and women. Some people would be offended at the idea that a woman should be submissive to a man, while other women strive for those values and other men seek them out. The first commandment given directly to women can be found in the Book of Genesis, chapter 3 verse 16, KJV “...thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.” By following this simple commandment woman can allow their husbands to preside over the family, and create loving environments for child rearing.
By allowing husbands to be the hero, women empower the men in their lives to take control of their responsibilities and accomplish these time-tested duties. The media and other factors would have us, both men and women, believe that men are incapable of accomplishing these goals. We would be led to believe that a woman's place in the executive office, and that those women who choose not to work, but stay home and raise a family, are less valuable and lower class citizens. These stereotypes of both male and female roles are detrimental to our families and our society.
With divorce and cohabitation rates skyrocketing, what examples are we teaching our children? The 2002 Census Bureau report states;
"The National Center for Health Statistics recently released a report which found that 43percent of first marriages end in separation or divorce within 15 years. The study is based on the National Survey of Family Growth, a nationally representative sample of women age 15 to 44 in 1995.”
With 43% of marriages ending in separation and divorce, a married couple is nearly twice as likely to end their marriage than to develop heart disease, which only affects 29% of us and yet is America's number one killer (Center for Disease Control 2006). More children today are raised in broken homes than ever before in the history of our country.
How can a wife turn her husband into her hero? Simple steps can make a large difference when trying to bring about change. Asking for help, even when it is something a woman could accomplish on her own, like opening a stuck jar or reaching something on a high shelf. Turning over the day to day finances and checkbook to the husband empowers him with literal responsibility for the families money and tells the husband that he is trusted. A woman can support a man in his home improvement projects by allowing him to complete the project in his own time, and giving compliments on a job well done. These modest accolades, and countless more, are ways in which a wife can help to build her husband's self-esteem and integrity.
“The most important...work you will ever do will be within the walls of your own home.” -Harold B. Lee. How can we live up to our responsibilities and overcome the negativity that assails us every day? Woman can choose to support and sustain their husbands in all their honorable doings. Men can choose to step up to the plate and do the work that is necessary to provide for and protect their families and loved ones. The paradigm shift and learning the skill of turning a husband into a hero is the catalyst to turning those shocking statistics around and creating a better world.
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