The Return of the Daughters

I watched a DVD recently entitled, “The Return of the Daughters”. This controversial documentary presents a radically counter-culture understanding of what a young lady should do with her life between high school graduation and marriage. Our culture assumes that young women should pursue college and career, and see marriage and family as an additional life fulfillment goal. This documentary takes viewers into the homes of several families who are all taking a very different approach. The dads in the program chose not to send their daughters to college, retaining direct care and covering over their daughters until such time as they pass this responsibility on to their future husbands. I watched the program because I feel a lot of pressure from the culture to assume my daughters must have a career outside the home so I welcomed a challenge from an alternate perspective.

Like other books, articles, I have read promoting a return to biblical patriarchy, this documentary has a weak view of the church, presenting the individual family as the pinnacle of God’s plan. Although one of the families depicted in the DVD was connected to the mission of the local church, the others were not. This ‘family-centric’ view is supportive of many things I desire for my family, but I believe my family exists for a far greater mission than simply itself. I want my family to be strong so that the mission of the Gospel proclaimed in and through the local church can be strong. Keep this in mind if you watch the program and talk to your children about it.

The message is also pretty dogmatic and one sided against sending your daughters to college after high school. But it does make you think. College, I believe is a legitimate choice, just not the best option for everyone nor a must for anyone. As the documentary claims, the message of “Return of the Daughters” is controversial, but, given how frequent we hear an anti-family, anti-homemaker message thrown at us, it is good to hear a strong argument from the other side. You might still decide to send your daughter to college, but how you make that decision and what type of post high-school life best suits your daughter might be well served by views that challenge the cultural mindset. And “Return of the Daughters” certainly does that.