Posted on 01/18/2013 2:05:46 PM PST by NYer
Fewer young men in the US want to get married than ever, while the desire for marriage is rising among young women, according to the Pew Research Center.
Pew recently found that the number of women 18-34 saying that having a successful marriage is one of the most important things rose from 28 percent to 37 percent since 1997. The number of young adult men saying the same thing dropped from 35 percent to 29 percent in the same time.
Pew’s findings have caught the attention of one US writer who maintains that feminism, deeply entrenched in every segment of the culture, has created an environment in which young men find it more beneficial to simply opt out of couple-dom entirely.
Suzanne Venker’s article, “The War on Men,” which appeared on the website of Fox News in late November, has become a lodestone for feminist writers who have attacked her position that the institution of marriage is threatened, not enhanced, by the supposed gains of the feminist movement over the last 50 years.
“Where have all the good (meaning marriageable) men gone?” is a question much talked about lately in the secular media, Venker says, but her answer, backed up by statistics, is not to the liking of mainstream commentators influenced by feminism.
She points out that for the first time in US history, the number of women in the workforce has surpassed the number of men, while more women than men are acquiring university degrees.
“The problem? This new phenomenon has changed the dance between men and women,” Venker wrote. With feminism pushing them out of their traditional role of breadwinner, protector and provider – and divorce laws increasingly creating a dangerously precarious financial prospect for the men cut loose from marriage – men are simply no longer finding any benefit in it.
As a writer and researcher into the trends of marriage and relationships, Venker said, she has “accidentally stumbled upon a subculture” of men who say “in no uncertain terms, that they’re never getting married.”
“When I ask them why, the answer is always the same: women aren’t women anymore.” Feminism, which teaches women to think of men as the enemy, has made women “angry” and “defensive, though often unknowingly.”
“Now the men have nowhere to go. It is precisely this dynamic – women good/men bad – that has destroyed the relationship between the sexes. Yet somehow, men are still to blame when love goes awry.”
“Men are tired,” Venker wrote. “Tired of being told there’s something fundamentally wrong with them. Tired of being told that if women aren’t happy, it’s men’s fault.”
Feminism and the sexual revolution have simply made marriage “obsolete” for women as a social and economic refuge, but this is a situation that should not be celebrated by feminists, Venker says.
“It’s the women who lose. Not only are they saddled with the consequences of sex, by dismissing male nature they’re forever seeking a balanced life. The fact is, women need men’s linear career goals – they need men to pick up the slack at the office – in order to live the balanced life they seek.”
A cross section of research data from the Pew Research Center for the last months of 2012 shows the alarming trends for marriage and child-bearing in the US. One report published in mid-December said that the latest census data showed “barely half” of all adults in the United States are currently married, a “record low”. Since 1960, the number of married adults has decreased from 72 percent to 51 today and the number of new marriages in the U.S. declined by five percent between 2009 and 2010.
Moreover, the median age at first marriage continues to rise with women getting married the first time at 26.5 years and men at 28.7. The declines in marriage are “most dramatic” among young adults. Just 20 percent of those aged 18 to 29 are married, compared with 59 percent in 1960.
“If current trends continue, the share of adults who are currently married will drop to below half within a few years,” the report said.
Moreover, the link between marriage and childrearing has become disconnected in the minds of the so-called Millennial generation, those between 18 and 29. While 52 percent of Millennials say being a good parent is “one of the most important things” in life, just 30 per cent say the same about having a successful marriage, an attitudinal survey found.
The gap, of 22 percentage points, between the value Millennials place on parenthood over marriage, was just 7 points in 1997. The research found that Millennials, many of whom are the children of divorce and single-parenthood themselves, are also less likely than their elders to say that a child needs both a father and mother at home, that single parenthood and unmarried couple parenthood are bad for society.
“I feel bad for the way men are treated in this country. There is no respect.”
Respect is one thing (and needs to be earned); a deeper problem is that it is legally acceptable (often REQUIRED) to give a less-qualified female or preferred minority a college seat, job or promotion over a better white male candidate. As long as that is the law of the land, I have no problem watching this country devolve into a Spanish, Arabic, and Hindi speaking mess; in fact, I’m playing an active role by raising my children in English AND Spanish. Much more than half of their friends have imported parents (like my wife); they’ll fit right in with the “New America”.
The “progressives” wanted to tear down the WASP ideal that built this country & culture. Congratulations; they won. Nothing tickles me as much as the look on the face of an older “childless by choice” (at least in her younger days)American woman when a gaggle of children pass them chattering in Spanish; they won.
“Losing weight would help, too.”
You’re brutal (but very funny).
I work with single childless women in their fifties and sixties that spend a lot of money trying to look 40; the cosmetic aspect won’t help very much. The deeper issues won’t be addressed (as evidenced by many of the comments on this thread - apparently American women, while angry, will stay the course to extinction).
As much as northeastern NJ is a toxic waste dump, there is more than 57 varieties of women to pick from in terms of different countries. Any American guy who wants a wife can find one here (for at least a 5 year stint - then she’s a citizen and can “go yankee” on you)/s
I didn’t pick up the tab. I shut the door and told her if she could open her own door, then she could find her own way home and left her standing there.
“Foreign women absolutely adore American men — some in deference to their own men — but both foreign sexes agree that American women are the pits [but for different reasons].”
The first sentence identifies the culprit better than anything else can; rather than go back and forth between US men & women pointing fingers, look at how many foreign women (from ANY continent or island) will marry an American guy. Now how many men from those countries would do the same with an American woman?
Game, set, match.
After reading this thread, I don’t like men or women. Must be why some folks want to marry their dog. LOL
Reason enough for a guy to want to study dentistry... a lot of opportunity there.
Your post wasn’t a rant; I think it was very good and I agree with it.
You want to hear sad? My darling husband and I married in 1996. During our courtship and engagement, I worked with a bunch of women-—some single, some married-—who had in the past been friends, but when I met my man, began to turn against me. These were all women with a modern, feministic attitude toward men and life. When we got engaged, they treated the news with open cynicism. They laughed and told me, go ahead, get married, but in a couple of years you’ll be sick of him and be glad to get him out of the house.
He bought me a gorgeous engagement ring, and the day he went down on his knee to put it on my finger I was the happiest woman in the world. When I wore it to work, one of the women made fun of it for not being the perfect color diamond. The manager, a female, swiped the ring when I had to take it off for a moment, and hid it all day, swearing she didn’t know what had happened to it. I was panicked and heartbroken over losing it. At the end of the day, she brought it out and gave it back to me, laughing over the “joke.”
Later on, as I got closer to my wedding date, I overheard the manager and assistant manager behind closed doors, wondering how they could find a reason to fire me. One of them said they were sick of seeing me flounce around, so happy all the time. So I quit, and basically told them all to go to hell.
Well, it will be our 17th anniversary in August and we are more in love than ever. I’m not happy when he leaves the house; I’m excited to see him come home. But those women did their best to try and ruin my happiness. I feel sorry for bitter harridans like that.
Part of me, though, wishes I could go back and deal with those witches again. I’m a lot less naive now, and a LOT less inclined to take anyone’s crap.
you should send then a card and picture of you and you husband every year on your anniversary... 8^)
Poster dangerdoc thought this would turn into a Friday Night Fight thread. Seems to me it was more of a sorority pillow fight. I tried putting some gas on the fire, but it fizzled too.
“During our courtship and engagement, I worked with a bunch of women-—some single, some married-—who had in the past been friends, but when I met my man, began to turn against me.”
My wife dealt with the same crap; I thought at the time (and still believe) that it was caused by 1) the other women being in relationships with marriage nowhere on the horizon, and 2) some of them being in the only relationships available (that they didn’t think should end in marriage - settling for dating someone who was NOT marriage material).
“I tried putting some gas on the fire, but it fizzled too.”
I actually find it a fascinating topic (though very sad); if I wanted just to brawl I’d have gone to the religion threads. I have family & friends that would probably make good wives, but the men are understandably reluctant and the women recoild from prenups. Both sides understand the issues, but neither will concede enough to make it work.
The political/moral gap between married mothers and single childless women will transcend every other classification (race, income) because in the end, one group has a serious stake in the future (and they are concerned about it) while the other group has no future at all (and they are bitter about it).
When a man holds a door for me, I always thank him nicely, and usually, he's surprised and pleased. He'll be more likely to do it for another woman, later on.
You could be right. Feminists are some bitter individuals...
LOL!!
Disgusting. So glad you left that horrible place.
God's blessings on you & your husband.
Thank you. I appreciate that.
God bless you and yours.
Link?
There is a corresponding phenomenon among older women. Once the children are grown or nearly grown, they would rather be single. If they can support themselves, why be shackled by a cranky demanding old man who doesn’t want to travel, doesn’t want to see the grandkids and resents expenditures on hobbies.
more links on the right of the video... she's tooo funny I think the resentment is that they’re willing to drop the feminism (more willingly with passing year after 35), and it doesn’t do any good by that time. I don’t even consider many of these women “feminists”; at work they want promotions and pay but still want to leave at 4:30 every day (while the men toil until 6:30). They (and the men who won’t marry them) are often just overgrown children; this is only news because the women have had enough (and the men don’t care either way).
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