A recent poll by Gallup finds that less than half of Americans are “very satisfied” with their personal lives. The number who expressed high satisfaction is 47%. This is the lowest number in decades. However, those who are most satisfied are those who are married and religious. Does that surprise anyone?
My husband and I recently celebrated another anniversary. We spent our anniversary down in sunny Florida. Although, it wasn’t too sunny. There was a lot of rain, but we had a great time.
A few years ago, after we had attended several 50th Wedding Anniversary parties, my husband said to me, “At 50, they redo the vows, have the first dance, have the cake, go through the whole thing again?” I said, “yea, it’s kind of customary at 50.” He said, “well, nobody told me it expired. I might not re-up.”
We are long past the fifty mark now and he did re-up. Life is good when you are married to your soul mate and best friend.
There was a time when staying married was expected. You married your true love and lived happily ever after. Well, you lived together ever after anyway, whether happily or not. Now, I realize that my husband and I are exceptions to the rule. We’re special. He sure is, anyway.
Today it is too commonplace that families no longer stay together. The divorce rate is way too high. I’m not sure if anyone knows what it is. We can all agree, however, just from our personal knowledge, that the figure is way too high.
We have heard, from media and news reports, that the divorce rate is over 50%. An article in the New York Times points out that this is a flawed calculation. The number was established by calculating the number of marriages per year by the number of divorces. The article points out the flawed methodology. The people who are marrying, each year, are not the same people getting divorced. This calculation ignores the people who were married in past years.
Most social scientists prefer to determine the divorce rate by calculating how many people who have ever married subsequently divorced. In doing this, researchers say the rate has never exceeded 41%. Rates rose sharply in the 1970s and this led to projections that the trend would continue going upwards. Instead, the rate has slowly moved downward. That’s a good thing.
Feminist ideology, which has strayed so far from its original goals, can share some blame for the decline in the traditional American family. Women were told they were used and abused if they “chose” to stay home and answer the highest calling a woman can have, to be a mother and teach and nurture. This group has even equated motherhood to slavery. These feminists are in favor of any form of support, charity, welfare, etc., except a father in the home taking care of the family. Women were told, “do your own thing,” and men were told, “you aren’t responsible, it’s a woman’s choice” (in all matters).
I hope you have noticed that some of the radical feminist groups that claim to represent women, do not always have the best interest of women at heart. They insist that women can make decisions on abortions without any input from the father. But they don’t think women should make decisions to opt against careers and choose motherhood. One feminist said, “Women who choose time with their families over career advancement are viewed as letting down the feminist sisterhood.”
Why should anyone else be concerned about the choices women make? As long as it’s her choice, we should celebrate it.
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Joyce Krawiec serves in the North Carolina Senate. She represents Davie County and Forsyth County, NC. Christian, wife, mother, small business owner, and conservative.