In an interesting
exercise, Reichert looks at the effect of contraception on relations between the sexes using "microeconomic reasoning." He concludes that it has resulted in "a massive redistribution of wealth and power from women and children to men." Have a look and see what you think.
Every social change has unexpected consequences. But if the trade off for being able to choose the right time to have children is to have a smaller market of marriageable men, I think it's still well worth the trade. Something may have negative consequences for all women (although I don't believe this article proves more than apparent positive correlation), but may be a life, career, or marriage saver for an individual women. And it's not really a prisoner's bargain...women now can enjoy lives that were once closed to them when they were tied to children, wanted or unwanted. Not all women want children. Certainly most women do not want children Right This Moment.
ReplyDeleteThe fact of the matter is that marriage changes as society changes. I think a woman has a moral right to choose her own life and not be constrained by biological imperatives. Freeing women from the requirement of children also reduces dependency on those men who may not be good partners but might be needed as breadwinners or protectors if women have children to protect, even at detriment to the women.
I can't speak for all women, everywhere, but I can speak for one woman here. I, with no desire to marry or have children, am "better off" with contraception, using my own terms, than the generalized women of this article are, using his women-as-mothers-only terms. The Catholic, male hierarchy has a tendency to categorize all women into such a neat compartment, and I, a common outlier, don't really approve of such deceptive measures.
I thought his division of the mating game into a sex market and a marriage market was an interesting approach. A touch Darwinian, perhaps, but interesting.
ReplyDeleteMore definition of terms would have been nice, as well. Overall categories such as "better off" and "worse off" rely on so many factors that can't be explained by the few and sometimes tenuously connected variables. It's unfortunate, because an overview of every social change would be very useful to help us predict possible outcomes for future social changes, and maybe help us anticipate more of them, but I imagine each issue is far too complex to address fully. For every positive social action there seems to be an opposite reaction, in varying degrees depending on planning and foresight.
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