At the risk of further promoting an absurd op-ed, I’m compelled to fashion my rebuttal into a TMV post, a rebuttal that I posted as a comment to a subsequent post but which is currently being held for moderation.
And for the nth time, I’m struck by how many words it takes to provide evidence to counter sweeping generalizations.
A follow up to my recent reflections on women and politics, this time focused on the shrill responses. http://t.co/jz6UNb76u3
— R.R. Reno (@rr_reno) September 2, 2014
Dear M. Reno (Rusty?):
I’ve read the 17 comments on the original post and see nothing that I would characterize as strident (loud and harsh) or “shrill” (high-pitched and piercing — what an interesting pejorative you’ve chosen as your adjective) but I’ve not looked at comments directed to your Twitter account. However, I don’t doubt that the comments were grating to your ego as they rejected your essay which was presented as fact, not opinion.
I read the opening graphs with a sense of incredulity coupled with the stark reminder of how east coast liberals (NYC) view the world through such a different frame than (a) the rest of the country in general and (b) the left coast in particular.
People have become disoriented as traditional cultural forms lose their authority over our lives. Marriage and family are key instances. The weakening of these and other institutions tends to make people more vulnerable. They want a sense of belonging and a modest degree of confidence that their life-path will bring happiness. Both tend to be weakened as traditional institutions exercise less authority.
So “marriage and family” have been “weaken[ed]” and thus “people [feel] more vulnerable.” And having “traditional cultural forms” lose “authority” means that everyone is “disoriented”?
Fact: in predominantly red states (midwest/south) people marry younger and have higher divorce rates than blue states (urban/coasts). How does this jibe with your claim? Perhaps poverty and educational levels contribute to family breakups?
I don’t understand how conservatives can toss around dog whistle phrases like “marriage and family” and “traditional culture” with a straight face, given Republican leadership like these as role models:
- Arizona’s John McCain (divorced his disabled and disfigured first wife after returning from Vietnam and married a woman 18 years his junior one month later)
- California’s Arnold Schwarzenegger (admits to two affairs and child out of wedlock while married to Maria Shriver)
- California’s Ronald Reagan (the only divorced man to serve as president)
- Georgia’s Newt Gingrich (three marriages/two divorces w/affairs, one while current wife was hospitalized)
- Kansas’ Bob Dole (who divorced his wife of 23 years – the person who nursed him post-WWWII injuries and wrote out his law school exam answers since he could not write – on Jan. 11, 1972)
- South Carolina’s Mark Sanford (public affair/divorce)
I do not cite these men to demonize divorce but as a reminder about glass houses. And sweeping generalizations. But might it be that this isn’t the sort of leadership behavior many women seek in political leaders?
Thus we have the seemingly odd political instincts of a single, 35-year-old McKinsey consultant living in suburban Chicago who thinks of herself as vulnerable and votes for enhanced social programs designed to protect against the dangers and uncertainties of life. Why would a woman whose 401K already exceeds $1,000,000 and who owns a condo worth almost as much be so concerned to expand public support for in-home care of the elderly? It’s because she’s not married and feels as though she’s going to have to take on all the responsibilities of life on her own—a prospect that is indeed daunting.
A 35-year-old with $1M in a 401(k) and a condo worth $1M? And a woman, to boot? Really??? And you honestly think someone of this demographic — who lives and works with the 0.05% — might be a liberal? LOL!
So what does the “average” female Democrat look like? According to Gallup, she is far more likely to have a skin color other than white. Median income for women working full-time: 2012 weekly earnings of $691 which is 81 percent of what men made.
Regarding feeling “vulnerable” … perhaps your hypothetical liberal female thinks these are movements in the wrong direction:
- “The top 1 percent of earners in a given year receives just under a fifth of the country’s pretax income, about double their share 30 years ago.”
- From 2009 to 2012, “top 1% incomes grew by 31.4% while bottom 99% incomes grew only by 0.4%… Hence, the top 1% captured 95% of the income gains in the first three years of the recovery.”
- From 2007 to 2009, during the Great Recession, average real income per family declined by 17.4%, “the largest two-year drop since the Great Depression.”
For context, in 2012 the top decile (10%) includes all families with market income above $114,000. The top percentile (1%) families had income above $394,000 in 2012.
But the true fallacy lies in the opening graph:
Single women don’t like the conservative message.
It’s not just single women who reject that message.
And it’s not just the message, its the belief that government-knows-best when it comes to life in the bedroom.
That’s a belief that appeals to only about 1-in-5 Americans, at least when measured by the proxy “prohibit abortion.” That figure that mirrors sentiment in 1975, post Roe v Wade. And most Americans want – and have wanted – a middle ground on abortion for decades.
The social conservative is out of tune when it comes to gay marriage (majority support since 2010).
And marijuana use (majority since 2013).
The true dilemma facing social conservatives is that they need to evolve or exit stage right, although they will shrilly and stridently insist that they know best, they know best, until the bitter end.
Sources – not to appeal to or reference a “higher authority” but because they are facts
- pewsocialtrends.org
- gallup.com
- bls.gov
- nytimes.com
- berkeley.edu
- gallup.com
- Wikipedia, public opinion of gay marriage
- People-Press/Pew
Known for gnawing at complex questions like a terrier with a bone. Digital evangelist, writer, teacher. Transplanted Southerner; teach newbies to ride motorcycles. @kegill (Twitter and Mastodon.social); wiredpen.com