William Farrell in his book The Myth of Male Power surveys how the often decried ‘Patriarchal’ system was harder on the man than is commonly acknowledged. He speaks of how men in history have been the dispensable sex, expected to do the most menial works in the harshest of realities, even to the detriment of their health or death, and often not respected or recognized for doing so.
The traditional role of a man has been to provide and protect his family. To do this, he has had to endure the harshest realities outdoors, hunting or going to war for the premodern man; or working overtime, in harsh conditions and intensively in the case of the postmodern one.
For this reason, men have tended to be seen as production machines. They are judged based on their productivity. The more productive one is, the more the respect and admiration.
I remember following a conversation on Mama Tendo Foundation Facebook page (probably over a year ago), in which many women commented on how they hate seeing their men seated at home doing nothing. Whether conscious or not, these women equated manhood with productivity.
This pressure of defining men by their work accounts for the overwhelming percentage of men who die on jobs compared to women, or the devastating suicide rates of men statistically recorded.
Bob Lewis in The Feminist Lie cites the 1996 Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries which states that ‘Of the nations employed workers (in the US), 46% are women, yet they accounted for just 8% of the nation’s job-related fatalities.’
Lewis moved on to cite the American Enterprise Institute’s April 9th, 2013 report. The report stated that ‘As in previous years, (there is) a significant gender disparity in workplace fatalities: 4,234 men died on the job (92% of the total) in 2011 compared to only 375 women (8% of the total). The ‘gender occupational fatality gap’ in 2011 was considerable: more than 11 men died on the job for every woman who died while working.’[1]
But is it because men want to work without ceasing that they face these fatalities?
First of all, most jobs that incur physical deaths are overwhelmingly left for men, whether it is war, or hunting, or working in the mines, or collecting garbage during winter while others are enjoying the comforts of their heated offices or homes.
Men are expected to do the rough jobs that foundationally keep society going, even in a feministic world.
Secondly, Farrell notes in his introduction that when he asked over 10,000 men in the US and Canada whether they would like to take off six months to a year from work when each child is born in order to be with their family, over 80% resounded with a yes. 17% said they would like to spend half their time on the job and half of the time with their children and family.[2]
But they cannot do that, if their identity is tied to their productivity, to the point of death on a job.
On the flipside, modernity and feminism which define success by industrial output are creating a society in which more women are increasingly defined by their jobs and monetary productivity than before.
For more women, work outside the home is more fulfilling than work in a home. Their identity as ‘progressive women’ is increasingly tied to their secular vocations which have outputs translatable in monetary terms.
The modern society does not like the idea of men or women who stay home. The result is that humanity has become a whole bunch of monetary goods and services in the marketplace. The identity and value of the modern man or woman are found in work done, exclusive of raising the next generation.
And in a society where time is money, every hour counts. Thus, there is a ‘rush-hour’ in lives, as we move past each other in a frenzy devoid of deep rest and responsible relationships.
The system in which people are paid per hour worked forces them to labor more than before. As a result, Japan which prioritized economic recovery after World War II fears it might not have a next generation to inherit the fruit of its labor. The high levels of loneliness in England created by workaholism have prompted the government to appoint the Minister for Loneliness at the beginning of this year. In the US, the suicide and depression hotlines are busier than before.
The causality in all this is the family. This postmodern humanity sees no productivity in the home. They see the output as happening outside the home. Thus, modern women do not want to marry, as this hinders their carrier.
As a result, the population growth in over 40 countries in the world is either 0% or below, with countries like France and Sweden trying in vain to interest citizens with incentives to reproduce and have families.
The Wisdom of God and the Idiocy of the World.
To this confused world, the fourth commandment speaks thus:
“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it, you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore, the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.” Exodus 20:8-11
The Christian message has been this: the end to which the world was created is resting. The climax of creation is not creation itself, but the resting of creatures in Christ.
Thus, when God had finished six days of work, He rested on the seventh day. Also, during creation we are told, ‘evening and morning were the first (second, third…) day.’ Here, we find the fundamental truth that a person’s day does not begin with work, but with resting.
All this points to this: humanity is not to be defined by work, but by their place in their Creator. That is a message that was once honored in the West but no longer. Therefore, London requires a minister for loneliness. It is why the Japanese society is in jeopardy. It is why suicide rates among men are soaring. It is why families are failing.
When a man breaks the law of God, he ends up broken. The Law of God was not only to restrict a man but to refresh and to restore him.
What the fourth commandment says to us is this: you should work, because God worked. But you should rest because God rested. Six days exist for you to work. But spend the seventh day with your children, your wife, and family.
The fourth commandment commands us not to be defined by what we do. This good news lifts pressure from us. We need not pursue a production-driven identity. This gospel brings healing to broken hearts and families. Resting is man’s way of surrendering to God. It is an expression of trust. And yet, when man rejects God, God’s wisdom is revealed still. But there is something else that is shown: the idiocy of the world.
A society that dishonors the Sabbath soon disintegrates into chaos, collapsing on itself.
[1] Lewis, Bob. The Feminist Lie. 2017. Print
[2] Farrel, Warren. The Myth of Male Power. London: Fourth Estate. 1994. Print.