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I think feminism is a symptom, rather than the root cause. In my opinion, materialism is the cause - the decisive rejection of the eternal and invisible in favor of the temporal and concrete.

As some of the "Biblical family" advocates among evangelicals point out, men left the home and family first, in pursuit of money and worldly acclaim. Women just followed the example.

This might be chicken and egg discussion. Personally, I think that the retreat to materialism was started when the West started to loose a sense of the reality of sacred and eternal. I see a progression that started with the Protestant Reformation. This was a revolt against authority within the faith. This questioning of authority lead to the "Enlightenment" and French Revolution, which were rejections of faith itself. This rejection was given a major boost by Darwin who allegedly gave an explanation for the mystery of life; life which, according to the Evolutionary view, is just the result of random natural events. Thus life in general, and the creation of man as male and female in particular, has no purpose. With no purpose and no hope for eternity, the retreat to materialism is inevitable.