[Paleopsych] feminism, etc

[Michael Christopher]

Gerry says:
>>Michael, Here an alarming statistic:  since 1970, 
the marriage rate is down by 35%.  During this period
we've viewed the impact of "feminism" on both the
workplace and the classroom.<<

--Question: how exactly is the impact of "feminism"
being measured? How would one contrast it with the
impact of "masculinism", for example? Or disentangle
the consequences of feminism from the consequences of,
say, greed or video games? 

>>Psychologically a 50% divorce rate has to have an 
enormous impact on young marriage especially since
many divorced women with children fall into poverty.<<

--No doubt, divorce produces a lot of insecurity. Any
schism in family or community is going to add stress
(and that may also apply if fundamentalism or politics
divides people) and a lot of that stress will fall on
children. The question is, if people aren't willing to
marry or stay married, how can we compensate, by
providing children with a sense of security and the
knowledge that, even if parents can't stay together,
they will still be there for the kids? Church may
provide a sense of community as a second family. What
else is there, or could be there in the future? I
don't think it will work to artifically shore up
marriage. Only providing alternate means to
self-esteem and security will really help. Ultimately,
we lack a sense of community, and that's going to
affect both divorce rates and the psychological health
of children. Many of those who advocate a
religion-centered community do not see why religion
can't work for everyone, and secular alternatives may
not be as well organized. 

Michael

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