Most of us men are familiar with the instructions Paul gives regarding how women are supposed to be in church. He tells them to let their hair grow long (it's a source of beauty) and keep their head covered when they pray or prophesy (it shows respect). They are to be quiet --letting men be the ones to speak. But what if God is really talking to us men, rather than the women --telling us how we are supposed to be?
He tells us in Ephesians 5 and in 1 Corinthians 10 that God has designed a parallel relationship for us to learn from. The relationship between a man and a woman is one of His ways to explain that between God and mankind. One way to see this is by looking at the needs of both. A man's greatest need in the relationship is to be respected; he wants to be trusted in every aspect. (I'm not saying that we men --human as we are-- are worthy of that trust, but rather it is built in to us as a need deep within our soul.) The woman's greatest need is to be cherished by her mate; she needs to feel secure that she is the most valued part of her man's being. The obvious parallel is that God wants for us to trust Him with all of our heart (not leaning on our own understanding). And we --mankind-- want to be assured that He cherishes us totally.
The women's movement has managed to convince women to take some of those basic functions upon themselves that God has entrusted to men. But in the same way, mankind has been convinced to move its dependence from God to himself. We want our wives to be submissive --displaying their total trust in us to everyone to see. We also like to be known as successful providers of both their physical and intellectual needs. Aren't those the very things God wants in us men, too?