Kirk Cameron, best known for playing Mike Seaver on Growing Pains, has some controversial things to say about the role of men and women in marriage. The former child star is currently on a tour called “Love Worth Fighting For,” where he speaks to audiences across America about strengthening their marriages by following the word of God. In a recent interview with Christian Post, Cameron advises wives to honor and respect their husbands—completely normal, right? All people should honor and respect their partners, so long as the honor and respect is reciprocated.
However, he goes on to say wives should “follow their husband’s lead, not to tell their husband how he ought to be a better husband. When each person gets their part right, regardless of how their spouse is treating them, there is hope for real change in their marriage.”
Cameron is a devout Evangelical Christian who has been married to actress Chelsea Noble since 1991. Cameron added, “A lot of people don’t know that marriage comes with instructions…We find them right there in God’s word.”
His sister Candace Cameron Bure (a.k.a. D.J. Tanner from Full House) has voiced similar views of marriage based on her faith, saying that she takes a submissive role relative to her husband. “I love that my man is a leader,” she says. “I want him to lead and be the head of the family and those decisions, major decisions, do fall on him. It doesn’t mean I don’t voice my opinion. It doesn’t mean I don’t have an opinion. I absolutely do.”
While that dynamic may work for them, there are certainly successful marriages in which couples do not subscribe to conventional gender roles. People cannot achieve “real change” in a marriage by completely disregarding their treatment of each other and not helping their partners better themselves, just for the sake of “getting their part right.”