Surrendered wife

The Surrendered Wives movement is inspired by a book, "The Surrendered Wife" by Laura Doyle. Its supporters suggest that women should relinquish what Doyle deems to be inappropriate control of their husbands and focus on their own happiness in order to bring romance back to their relationship.

Philosophy

The author of the core book of this movement maintains that she does not advocate submissiveness or the surrendering of one's self; she proposes the surrendering of control over others.

The "Surrendered Wives" movement is centered around six basic principles:

# a wife relinquishes control of her husband's life
# she respects his decisions for his life
# she practices good self-care (she does at least three things a day for her own enjoyment)
# she also practices receiving compliments and gifts graciously
# she practices expressing gratitude (thanking her husband for the things he does)
# a surrendered wife is not afraid to show her vulnerability and take the feminine approach

Continuing in an abusive, alcoholic, or adulterous relationship is not promoted or condoned.

Having female support is cited by Laura Doyle as a critical component for success for the woman who chooses to surrender. To this end there are a number of trained Coaches around the globe who assist women to implement the principles into their lives and marriages. Face to Face group seminars, phone coaching, on-line chat circles and an on-line seminar are available.

Criticism

Her critics see Doyle as advocating that women should be submissive to their husbands. It is viewed with great disapproval by many in the feminist movement. Fact|date=November 2007

Former Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Sex Discrimination Commissioner Pru Goward compared the movement to slavery saying "There is no such thing as an adult who can entirely subvert themselves to another person. That's called slavery and I think we abolished that several hundred years ago."cite web|title=60 Minutes Australia: Under the thumb|url=http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=270407|accessdate=2007-06-04] She also claimed that "If a man wants that sort of relationship, he actually doesn't want a relationship, he wants a doll. He wants a puppet, he wants total control and that's not the definition of a relationship."cite web|title=60 Minutes Australia: Under the thumb|url=http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=270407|accessdate=2007-06-04]

Doyle responds that many critics appear to have little knowledge of the principles described in the book and simply react to what they imagine the book says.

See also

* Compare with: Loving Female Authority
* Surrendered single

References

External links

* [http://www.surrenderedwife.com/ Book website]
* [http://www.equityfeminism.com/articles/2001/the-surrendered-wife-phenomena/ A feminist critical article]
* [http://www.surrenderedwifeseminars.com/ A support site for Surrendered Wives and Singles]