I've been in a few conversations with liberals in which they point out that the conservative ideal of "traditional marriage" isn't really "traditional" at all. The idea that a woman should or could stay home and devote herself exclusively to raising children and taking care of a household is a recent invention, not really introduced until the late 1800s. Before that, most societies expected women to do all sorts of work, including many kinds of work that conservatives think of as "men's jobs".
To which I can only say: Good point. So once again, conservatives are saying, "Let's try something new and different", while liberals are saying, "No, we must do things the way they have always been done. Change is bad and dangerous."
© 2015 by Jay Johansen
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