Free Republic

What really predicted fertility, the authors find, are attitudes about work and family.The world’s richest countries typically have the world’s lowest birth rates. The highest-income people in those wealthy countries on average have the smallest family sizes. Those two facts conflict with the broad perception, especially among lawmakers, that Americans aren’t having babies because they’re worried about how expensive kids are. So may the results of a new study out today, which finds that the more career-oriented individuals and wealthy societies become, the more their fertility declines. “Highly work-focused values and social attitudes among both men and women are strongly...

Daniel Davis: I’m joined now in the studio by Dr. Warren Farrell. He is co-author of the book “The Boy Crisis: Why Our Boys Are Struggling and What We Can Do About It.” The liberal Left continue to push their radical agenda against American values. The good news is there is a solution. Find out more >> Dr. Farrell, thanks for being here. Warren Farrell: I’m looking forward to talking with you. Davis: We’re recording this interview after a shooting in California, and it’s the kind of shooting that’s caused a lot of people to wonder. What is wrong with...

Cooking, cleaning mums will be banned in advertisements across the UK from next year, following a study which claimed traditional gender roles are “harmful and outdated”. The decision to tighten regulation was announced by the Committees of Advertising Practice (CAP) this week, after a report published in summer identified gender stereotypes in adverts as a driver of inequality between men and women. “Wherever they appear or are reinforced, gender stereotypes can lead to mental, physical and social harm which can limit the potential of groups and individuals,” the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) alleged in its study. Depictions deemed problematic include...

The other day I told my five year old boy a secret.  I told him it would keep him safe and help him the rest of his life.  He sidled up to me and put his ear to my face.  I whispered “never, ever, ever, ever, hit a girl.”  I made him repeat it.  I made him memorize it.  Later I asked him “what’s the secret” and he echoed back “never, ever, ever, ever, hit a girl.” There’s a girl in my son’s class, and I think she likes him.  At five, it’s hard to tell, but when a girl...

Turns out progressive views of equality aren't an aphrodisiac...The New York Times has come to a surprising conclusion. This:isn’t sexy. Really. It took a feature-length article in the magazine to explain to readers that when men act less like men, heterosexual women want to have sex with them less. Despite women being told that they want men more involved in traditionally female household tasks like cooking, cleaning and childcare, when men actually do so, wives find their husbands considerably less sexy. Another “surprising” revelation: equality in a marriage, especially in the bedroom, was a major turn-off for women. A desire...

Dear readers, The present gay "marriage" debate is an important one, but I am more worried about the broader, encompassing matter at hand, namely the dark forces trying to redefine social institutions essential to a free society. The family is traditionally the private institution commanding the most intense loyalty from its members, along with churches (at least in happier times). Leftist theorists are now working to drill down past the family, extending their hands into the crib to rob us of our God-given individual identities as males and females and the important roles and responsibilities which have always accompanied these...

According to an article in the Boston Globe, an informal poll taken among 200 teenagers has revealed that almost half of them blame the pop star Rihanna for her recent beating, allegedly by her boyfriend, Chris Brown. It's just one survey. But it's very bad news. And feminists are to blame. I don't say that to bash Gloria Steinem or whomever the most easily blamed feminist would be at this point. I say it so we can collectively get our heads out of the feminist fog in which we've been lost. I appreciate the kids wanting Rihanna to take some...

This topic deserves the deepest introspection by every person of every age and gender. At the core of our being, we are first and foremost male or female. To the anomaly of those born with male and female genitalia or other biological variations, it is my understanding that these people sense their true gender at a very early age. Again, our first and core identities as human beings are as males or females. Throughout documented human history, cultures and societal norms have preyed upon our genders. And to this day, males and females continue to be told who they are,...

Mother's Day is, to be honest, somewhat of an annoyance. It's manifestly one of those tedious Hallmark holidays wherein everyone is supposed to run out and support the revenue stream of cardboard manufacturers in the name of expressing gratitude to mothers, fathers, grandparents and anyone else to whom we might be related. I imagine it won't be long until Sept. 18 is declared Anonymous Sperm Donor's Day, which will probably be celebrated by giving matching card sets to one's two mommies and lighting a candle for dear old anonymous sperm donor, whoever he might be. Mothers are not only important,...

The title of this column is taken from Larry Elder's superb book Ten Things You Can't Say In America, even though we don't cover much of the same ground. Hopefully, Larry won't mind because imitation really is the sincerest form of flattery. 1) The U.S. military should be far less concerned about civilian casualties. We've gotten to the point where the United States is now regularly getting into conflicts with enemy nations that have far less regard for the lives of civilians in their countries than we do. We hold off on hitting high value targets because civilians are in...

Follow America's daughters back in time to see how they made history and watch as today's servicewomen break barriers in the line of duty.Well worth recommending to friends with daughters (and sons, I suppose.) Let the Generations KnowThis is a 30 minute video produced by the Pentagon Channel.

Across the nation, privileged young women are seeking to be competitive candidates to gain admittance to prestigious universities. Impressive SAT scores, awards, grades and extracurricular activities are of the utmost importance for college-bound high school students and their families. The priorities of many of today's elite young women, however, are surprisingly conventional, according to one survey. The most fortunate and educated women say they will conform to traditional gender roles after completing their Ivy League degrees. They are choosing careers as full-time mothers and expect to be supported financially by their successful spouses. Such expectations are utterly selfish and a...

"The Army has to understand the regulation that says women can't be placed in direct-fire situations is archaic and not attainable," said Lt. Col. Cheri Provancha, commander of a Stryker Brigade support battalion in Mosul, who decided to bend Army rules and allow Guay to serve as a medic for an infantry company of the 82nd Airborne. [. . .] "This war has proven that we need to revisit the policy, because they are out there doing it," said Provancha, a 21-year Army veteran from San Diego. Dozens of soldiers interviewed across Iraq — male and female, from lower enlisted...

<p>A few years ago, one of my sisters-in-law came to town with two of her kids, a boy and a girl. Over ice cream the adults in the group said: Let's assume that everyone involved in the Terri Schiavo controversy has operated in good faith. In other words, let's imagine that Michael Schiavo isn't a homicidal money-grubber; that the Republicans aren't political opportunists performing a Kabuki dance for the right-to-lifers; that the so-called evangelicals really do care deeply about Terri Schiavo and are not fighting a cynical proxy war against abortion; and that the Democrats siding with the Florida courts' decision to starve Terri to death are not doing so out of a reflexive petulance toward anti-abortion and conservative forces.</p>

A few years ago, one of my sisters-in-law came to town with two of her kids, a boy and a girl. Over ice cream the adults in the group asked these great kids what they'd do if they found a treasure chest full of gold. My nephew pondered. Then he said, "A gun." Then, more pondering. "No, wait. A sword would be good, too. Maybe I'd get a gun and sword." We then asked my niece the same question. She immediately replied, "A cheerleader uniform and a grown-up makeup kit." She didn't need to revisit the question. She was positive....

So is this what liberal feminists want in the USA? Personally, this sounds like something from 1984 or Brave New World. What gives a government the right to identify and then target for extinction certain gender-specific roles? Talk about going to the core of human psychology.

In the column, Ms. Ager claims that while First Lady Laura Bush seems friendly and well-read, it disturbs her that Mrs. Bush is such a popular figure throughout the country in spite of public ignorance as to her feelings on the latest federal highway project or her stance on Supreme Court appointments.

Janice Shaw Crouse: Younger women are more conservative BY JANICE SHAW CROUSE The writer, a senior fellow at Concerned Women for America, wrote this column for Knight Ridder Newpapers. Kim Gandy, president of the National Organization for Women, has said that the next four years under a Bush administration are going to be "tough" for the feminists and they will have to be "tougher." Well, conservative women, who have been marginalized, stereotyped, put down and humiliated at every turn over the past couple of decades, have gone through tough and tougher. Now that our time is here, we're the toughest...