Up & Coming Weekly

April 08, 2014

Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.

Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/292263

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 4 of 27

APRIL 9-15, 2014 UCW 5 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM I read the first column by the Washington Post's Dana Milbank on April 2, so I assumed it was an April Fools' joke. This could not be real, I thought to myself, and when I scrolled through Facebook, other people were saying the same thing. The general reaction was, "You have got to be kidding." But, no. No one was kidding. The news stories and columnists were talking about an event that actually occurred. It was a panel discussion sponsored by the Heritage Foundation, a national think tank, on the final day of Women's History Month, March 31. The panelists, all women, were opining on what would make women's lives better and on the damage done to both women and men by feminism. The program was entitled, "Evaluating Feminism, Its Failures and Its Future." Apparently, there was no thought that there might be some successes, and after much discussion shot through with angst, the panelists agreed on how to rectify this national situation, perhaps even pressing national problem. More women should just — get married! Yep. You read that correctly. Said one panelist, "We should show concern for everybody by extending the marriage franchise to everybody. Everybody go out, right now, go get married if you're not married, and we should be able to solve all these problems." Said another, "Millions of women have taken feminist advice, and it's led to unparalleled misery." Say what? Please do not misunderstand. I am a strong proponent of marriage. It is the glue that holds families and social institutions together. Married couples, like the animals on Noah's ark, are individuals who go two by two to church, to their children's schools, to neighborhood parties, to business occasions. Marriage is an institution that can nurture and sustain when all else is in flux, transit or psychic distress. Study after study confirms that married people, especially men, are happier and healthier than non-marrieds. The bonus is that if you try really hard and are really lucky, you might find yourself walking through your golden years still holding hands with your best friend and thinking, "by golly, we made it." Marriage has been and remains a wonderful institution for millions of people throughout recorded history, but there is no — repeat, no — evidence that it cures all our ills. It cannot, for example, protect us from the devastation and lingering effects of the Great Recession which was almost another Great Depression. It cannot keep people who have identified themselves as middle class from slipping into lower middle and lower class economic status — from professional- and middle -evel managerial positions into lower paid and lower status service-sector jobs. Marriage, even the happiest and most successful ones, cannot keep the wolf of outside social changes from our own doors, however much we may disagree with or even loathe them. The "unparalleled misery" panelist also had this to say in her attempt to promote marriage for all and to demonize feminism, a word which raises the hackles of many Americans but which has empowered millions of others as well. "Women know that because of the nature of their bodies, because they carry and bear children and nurse and nurture children, that they need protection and support." It has been my experience that all of us — men and women, need protection and support throughout our lives, more at some times than at others. We need protection and support not because we are women, but because we are human beings who will naturally go through good times and bad times as we progress through our lives. I have yet to meet anyone of either gender who goes it alone every moment of life without the protection and support of other people be they family, friends, work colleagues or strangers on the street. The panelists at the Heritage Foundation are entitled to their views on marriage, feminism and everything else, just as you are, and just as I am. Where the panelists and I part company is in advocating that one approach, in this case more women getting married for support and protection, is going to work for everyone. It will be a great fit for some and a disaster for others. We are blessed, after all, to live in America, the home of the brave and the land of the free. That means we are free to choose our own paths in life, and while one panelist sees feminism as bringing on "unparalleled misery," others see a blossoming of equality and opportunity. The panel discussion is online for all to ponder at the Heritage Foundation's website. The more I have seen of it, the more I think it might be an April Fools' joke after all. And What Planet Do You Live On? by MARGARET DICKSON MARGARET DICKSON, Contributing Writer, COMMENTS? Editor@upandcom- ingweekly.com.. 910.484.6200. THIS WEEK WITH MARGARET Contest&RequestLine: 910-764-1073 www.christian107.com KeepingtheMainThing...theMainThing. visitusonline FocusontheFamily 20Countdown Magazine Adventures in Odyssey Serving Fayetteville Over 50 Years! EASTER SUNDAY SPECIALS starting at $6.99 Easter Sunday Serving: 7 a.m. - 3 p.m. 484-0261 1304 Morganton Rd. Homemade Desserts Fresh Seafood Hand Cut Steaks Italian & Greek Children's Menu Dana Milbank

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Up & Coming Weekly - April 08, 2014