Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Why Feminists Won't Surrender The War On Marriage

When the dichotomy between ideology and cold hard fact is just too great to ignore, it can create some interesting observations.  When Martin Luther nailed his 95 Thesis on the door of a church it outlined some of the stark and ironic contradictions between the ideology of the RCC and the practice.  While it's no 95 Thesis, this little gem from Forbes proves that the irony of feminists fighting against marriage for the good of women is just too delicious for even a feminist to miss.

Entitled "Dear Feminists: In The Name Of Fighting Poverty, Can We Call A Truce About Marriage?" writer Carrie Sheffield defends the institution of matrimony not on ideological, religious, or moral grounds, but statistically.  Citing several figures that show that marriage improves women's lives as both wives and daughters, Ms. Sheffield takes 3rd Wavers-and-beyond to task over their wholesale condemnation of marriage as a plot of Teh Patriarchy.

Ms. Sheffield correctly identifies several key points about how single mother families are dragging us down economically and socially, and she calls out key factos like globalization and the social acceptability of illegitimate children as culprits. She quotes stats aplenty when it comes to why the traditional two-parent household is superior to the one-mommy-and-Uncle-Sam model.  And she does, indeed, chew out feminism in general for smacking marriage around.

But in doing so she's ignoring some other pretty fundamental factors in the equation.  The fact that we don't properly educate young women on the pragmatic reproductive choices they will face, for example, or our young men on the folly of young parenting without marriage.  She wants feminism to put unwed mothers "in their crosshairs", but she's unwilling to follow the logic down the rabbit hole from where that leads.  She's placing all the pressure on feminism, thankfully, instead of blaming the "victim" of the young man whose reproductive future was coerced, but she doesn't address feminism's essentially anti-male basis for its anti-
marriage message.

Ms. Sheffield also sees this as a class issue - but doesn't identify the harmful marxesque ideology ("man as eternal oppressor", regardless of class) that underpins and informs feminism's perspective on marriage.  She proposes feminism "lay off" the topic of marriage, but doesn't say anything helpful about it laying off the general misandry that motivates feminism in the first place.  At best, she says "marriage is good for women and children", and brazenly leaves men sitting, unsurprisingly, by the side of the road.

I suppose that's par for the feminist course.  Identifying a real and valid method of improving the lives of women at risk for poverty sounds like it would be something feminism would be all over - but to do so they would have to abandon the victim mentality, the uber-rationalization that single moms are "men's fault", and then open up a rational and cogent discussion about the subject with actual men.

That's going to be problematic.  Men are generally soured on marriage in our culture for good reason, and marriage to feminists is just masochistic.  The social incentives available under agricultural culture and early  industrialization evaporated with the rise of the welfare state and liberalized divorce law. There just is no compelling reason for men to get married any more (saving women who have made demonstrably poor choices doesn't cut it) and that fact alone should shine brightly through any article about marriage and feminism.  I know guys who would be thrilled to be husbands to some decent woman, but who are so brow-beaten and terrified of divorce that they won't even consider it.  Hypergamy is an existential threat to a man considering a commitment.  Promises of better health and longevity do not compare to the apparent sacrifices and personal risks a man makes when he extends that commitment to a woman.

The feminist version of "marriage" implies no permanent commitment, no surety of a man raising or even seeing the offspring he is financially responsible for, and a permanent resignation of control over the family to his wife under pain of dissolution.  There is no respect, here.  There is no appreciation for the masculine contributions to the institution.  Indeed, they are regularly denigrated and bashed, as are the husbands who contribute them.  Feminist "marriage" is a transitory, temporary thing designed to fail and - in the process - humiliate and emasculate the husband.

He exists within the bonds of feminist marriage as a provider and protector, the "good" elements of marriage that feminism wants to keep, but is denied the respect and admiration a husband should receive (that would be a betrayal of the sisterhood) and he is vociferously forbidden from the patronizing, paternalistic, patriarchical practice of expecting sex from his wife and having full parental rights over his children.

For the feminist husband, marriage is an elaborate shit test he can never win, an invitation to hypergamy and divorce.  The more obsequiously he praises and defers to his wife, the lower in status he descends among his male peers and the less attractive he is to his wife.  Any opportunities for displaying his value as a man are mitigated or destroyed by his basic posture, and undermined by a preconception of masculine values as negative.

So why, then, would a man be drawn toward a situation which clearly doesn't have his interest in mind?

Marriage is a very particular institution, and feminism's attempt to re-write the nature of the beast have been disastrous for men.

Ms. Sheffield needs to realize that feminism won't let up on marriage because it cannot.  To do so would betray the ideology that is the foundation of feminism, and more pragmatically it would force feminists, and women in general, to begin to talk to men, not at them.  They can't do that because they are afraid: afraid that they will be held accountable for their past misandry, afraid that they will have wasted the time and energy invested in that misandry, and (worst yet) they would have to admit that the enemy, Teh Patriarchy, for the last 40 years or so.
maybe wasn't quite so bad as they made it out to be

Feminism can't support marriage, because then it would have to face the inconvenient truths about human sexuality, marriage, divorce, hypergamy, and other gendered issues that keep us from being "equal".  Further, feminism can't support marriage for the rank-and-file working class single mom because to do so would, indeed, make the lives of those women better . . . and happy women make lousy feminists.  Irate, sleep-deprived single moms who can't get a date are great feminists.  Happy, fulfilled wives and mothers who can manage themselves in a real cishetero long term relationship are lousy feminists, even to other feminists.  When outrage and anger are the coin of the realm, actually expecting an ideology to encourage people to be happier by compromising their ideals is futile.

So good luck, Ms. Sheffield, but understand that convincing women that they need to marry after you have spent two generations telling them that they are better off without - and that they do not need - a man has poisoned the well irreparably.  As men we're not inclined to go into a relationship where we are not "needed".  Modern technology and economics has made it possible for us to live comfortably and inexpensively with all the wonders of the world a click away, nearly all the comforts of a traditional home without the intense time and money investment required to sustain that traditional home.

More importantly, it can all be done without a wife . . . and until women can overcome feminism's war on wives, husbands, and marriage in general, millions of men are and will be content to live their lives without marriage.  And if that somehow hurts single women and single moms, then that's a reflection on feminism, not on the men who refuse to go against their own best interests.

12 comments:

  1. Good analysis. For my observations, I've found the perverted view of marriage (Marriage 2.0) to be the foundational bedrock of feminism. To deny any portion of Marriage 2.0 is to deny feminism itself. Simply put, Ms. Sheffield is just writing another "let's try to get them back on the plantation" piece.

    An image I worked up illustrating feminist marriage

    ReplyDelete
  2. Good stuff, I am inclined to agree that they will be unable to let go the victim card. They long ago stopped making any serious progress on any kind of social justice issue that could be deemed "reasonable" and can now only define themselves in terms of aggreivement and victimhood, thus the rise of intersectional feminism etc, essentially looking for finer and finer shades of issues to piss and moan about. Likewise the one sided nature of the debate where feminists talk at us or about us, but never with us, save for man-boobs and sycophants who hope to curry favor with them. it is my hope that they in fact accelerate the rate at which they become hysterical so that it may be easier to point out how non-sensical it has all become. Their solipsism will hopefully be their end. I have heard nothing from feminists in the last ten years that would contribute to the betterment of all society without condition or exclusion, without blame, without victimhood. Nothing. they can only act in response to the world, they are utterly unable to create anew.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Rather than indicting feminism, Sheffield seems to give it a pass. First, she fails to point out that feminism actively celebrates and promotes single mothers -- both new-made, and single by divorce. Specific blame is directed only at "cool-pose-culture" among young lower-class males, not at feminism's "our-body-our-choice" yougogirlism about single women having babies. When she cites a study's finding that "a driving factor in the explosion of unwed births was widespread societal acceptance", she refuses to continue that thought by pointing out who is doing the accepting, and why. Poor women dependent on the state make great feminists and Marxists. Angry women who feel entitled to special rights in family court make great feminists.

    Second, Sheffield fails to wonder at feminism's callousness in creating foot soldiers for itself by steering so many women toward life-failure and unfulfillment.

    Third, she can't bring herself to call on feminists to ask themselves why men have left the building, and if -- perhaps -- that might have something to do with 40 years of feminists demonizing and disenfranchising men.

    At most, Sheffield seems to want feminists to make a tactical and strategic adjustment by modifying their rhetoric about marriage. That's no different than feminists themselves who, because they have discovered they need men to accept and support the next stage of feminism, are putting a velvet glove of outreach to men on their iron fist of coercive totalitarian power.

    So Sheffield is still a feminist-enabler. She just wishes feminism would play its cards smarter so they can get what they want for themselves.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Feminism, like the rest of the Marxist and Neo-Marxist forms, is a very class concious ideology. Marxism is basically a way for the aristocrats to regain power by uniting with the lower class (the proletariat in the original form, but the lumpenproletariat in the modern form). Thus poor single women are useful allies, but are of no concern to the upper class that controls the movement (aristocracy is now defined by education, not bieth, especially by which schools one attended.)

    ReplyDelete
  5. You make a wonderful point. Happy wives make poor feminists. A recently married friend of mine talks big game on the Feminism front, but then admits to feeling like fraud because, essentially, she lets her husband take care of her. She's a good wife, too, and doesn't act like a stereotypical Feminist. Respectful, kind, vulnerable, appreciative, and *ahem* eager to keep her husband satisfied. She's just conflicted after a lifetime of being told to be a Grrl. (As is often the case with intelligent women.)

    I just make a point of dropping some red pill ideas in conversations with her, and try to alleviate her cognitive dissonance about the whole thing.

    Couples like them give me hope.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Honestly the one of the best ways to counteract feminism is to provide a living example and a well thought out argument against feminism as Meggrz suggest. People don't like to admit when they have chosen wrong. They are usually ashamed of their complacency or that they were so easily duped.

    I had the privledge last Sunday of having a discussion about the choices women have in their lives with a young mother expecting her second child. She and her husband have begun recently attending our church and wouldn't be coming back if they didn't like what they were hearing from the pulpit. This was the first time I had to talk with her at a reception and while she and I watched her 2yr old son playfully run between the legs of other adults and away from her husband I got to know more about her. She has a law degree and wanted to join JAG but for health reasons was denied. Some of her comments start to move in the direction of being apologetic or making excuses for not jumping into public law career. I stopped her and smiled and said I had been a SAM for 15 yrs. and would do it all again. The smile on her face and her body language spoke volumes. We talked for another good 20 mins in the end I pointed to her son who showing signs of getting sleepy and said:
    He's only a child once, and he needs his mother now. When he gets older he'll need his father. You will have at least 60 yrs. to enjoy him as an adult. Don't miss this moment, it's worth it, it's what memories are made of.

    If they keep coming I will be embracing this young woman and encouraging her but that can only be done by being willing to invite her into my life as a friend. Community is everything.

    Keep up the good work Ian.

    Practicallyperfect

    ReplyDelete
  7. Dịch vụ Kiem tra ten mien miễn phí từ iNET
    Tao web mien phi trên nền tảng web tin một cách nhanh chóng, chuyên nghiệp
    Chuyên trang Mẹo vặt cuộc sống cung cấp mẹo vặt hay trong cuộc sống hằng ngày
    Đăng ký nhận Ten mien mien phi từ inET
    Tin tức về Manchester united cập nhật hằng ngày hàng giờ
    Chuyên trang về Du lịch cung cấp thông tin về các tour du lịch, kinh nghiệm đi du lịch

    ReplyDelete
  8. It was an amazing article. Realy helpful. Allow me to introduce myself. Myself Bilal. I'm a Digital Marketing Consultant in Lahore Let me know if you need any help.

    ReplyDelete