Marc, a respectful addition here: much of the liberals’ dominance of the public discourse/policies comes from the fact that, by control of education, they managed to:

1) have control of terminology and so, in most instances, liberals are able to pass their description of reality as the only & correct one – and unfortunately, your phrasing “traditional roles” shows that you dance according to their tune.
“Traditional role”, “traditional family” and so on and so forth – what is “un-traditional”? And are there realistic, positive alternatives to these anthropological arrangements predicated by objective biological & social necessities? Methinks not, and any serious anthopologist will support this “side of the narrative”. (Tarzan, Mowgli and Romulus and Remus had indeed edifying careers, yet most people will agree that with a real mother/woman and a real father/man they would have been better off than with the she-wolf and the siminans that reared them. Then… maybe not – I can see Naomy Wolfe or Erica Jong demanding legislation for removing children from destructive “traditional” families into inclusive, tolerant, open-minded penguin flocks or dolphins shoals.)

2) and by the same education control, liberals managed to move this type of (untenable) concepts (i.e. untenable in worlds different of the Laputa or Erewhown where we live now), in the realm of imperative or even mandatory legislative action – diversity, etc.

Best regards -

Thus, if a woman helps bring home the bacon, then the man should help with the household chores. If they both work, but the man expects the woman to still do the cooking and cleaning, things just get out of balance. I think it’s fine that women work, and I did my share of household chores.

MY marriage went downhill when we decided my wife would stay home after our first was born, but then she expected me to still do my “share” of the chores, as though she were still working, even though I was working 60+hr weeks. I didn’t mind changing diapers, bathing my kids, and tucking them in. That was my time with them, and they loved it. I made it fun. I just hated having to cook and clean, etc. I could never get her to see that baseline of traditional roles, although I did get some movement.

See, it works both ways, this imbalance.

I pretty much agree with NMSC. And responding to Karen’s posting: I have a great respect for stay-at-home moms, but you would be surprised at how many look at me disdainfully because I don’t have kids–as if I’m not really a woman or a grown-up because I haven’t reproduced (and it’s not from lack of trying, believe me). In my small town, women without kids really are the outcasts.

I can’t understand why conservatives are so afraid of the word “feminist.” Unfortunately, I guess that is the legacy of the 60s. What is a feminist? A feminist is a woman (or man) who thinks women should have the same opportunites for education, employment, health care, political involement, spiritual development, etc. as men. If it were not for the early feminists, women would never have gotten the vote, been admitted to universities, been able to hold checking accounts or buy property, etc. Feminism should not be about reproductive rights (that, in my opinions is a human rights issues, not a women’s issu), man-hating, us vs. them, or any of the other non-sense.

Notice that I used the word “opportunity.” I am not saying that a woman should get a job just because she is a woman. A woman who can’t pass a physical test shouldn’t get a job as a fireman any more than a man who can’t pass an anatomy exam should get a job as a nurse or physical therapist.

So–in that respect I probably do agree with the author of the article (leaving aside his little snippy remarks about feminists that don’t help his argument). I find problematic the lobbying of every little special interest group that wants a piece of Obama’s pie (especially when the pie hasn’t even been baked yet–i.e. we are spending money that hasn’t even been made/created yet).

I also bristle at comments about how cooking and cleaning are part of a woman’s role, whereas breadwinning is man’s role. What’s wrong with sharing duties, building a home together?

Not all of us have been blessed with children. And there are only so many times a day that a woman can vacuum the floor and load the dishwasher. Now that we have appliances like washing machines and refrigerators, women don’t have to slave away all day for a simple meal. Some of us would like to use our time and education to do things within the community and larger world that we feel makes a difference, and we would like equal pay for that.

Sometimes I feel like any discussion of feminism or gender roles on the politically conservative sites disintegrates into re-workings of the same old stereotypes and assumptions–just because that is the “conservative” way of thinking about things.

Neither conservatives nor liberals seem able to discuss these issues without realizing that each woman, marriage, and family is unique, and most families try to make the decisions that are best for them economically, emotionally, and spiritually.

uh, I never wanted to imitated men nor women, just make it in my way, that’s also why I am taken for a peculiar specie by both genders though I educated my sons to become men because they felt better that way ( learning sports of self defense were necessary at a time). If I had had girls, I would also have pushed them into what they would have felt at their best, the thing is to to find the breach where they can express positively

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGafMHsV4Ug&eurl=

I believe it. Listen particularly to the last line the guy says.

Maybe I’m a sap but your apropros words from your heart brought a wee trickle of a tear down my cheek.

I’m a Proud Stay-At-HOMER. I’ll wear that badge with honor.