Saturday, June 1, 2013

Fox News in the Henhouse



Given the news that 40% of American households are now headed by a female breadwinner, the ever-reliable Fox News put together a panel of (male) pundits to deplore the destruction of society as we know it. As usual, women are implicitly held to blame for this state of the nation.

Among the gems averred by the Fox panel was the sage commentary that in nature, males tend to be dominant. Really? Try telling that to a pride of hard-working lionesses as they set out on a hunt, leaving the male to relax and groom his mane, which he’ll need should another male approach and attempt a territorial usurpation. On that point, I won’t argue, Fox. Males are definitely the “kings” of territorial warfare.

In many animal species, in fact, the males’ only contribution to the family is, well, sperm. The mothers are left to do WHATEVER it takes to raise the young, sacrificing themselves to the good of perpetuity. The news that 40% of households claim females as the predominant breadwinners tells us one thing – that the vast majority of mothers will do whatever it takes to feed, clothe, and raise their children. The aging Women’s “Liberation” movement merely makes this somewhat possible, though still difficult. 

A working mother myself, I also count as friends and colleagues a large number of working mothers. None of us pretend that we prefer time on the job to time with our children. All of us acknowledge that it is – at least partially – our responsibility to care for the nascent lives we’ve brought into the world.  

In some cases, the fathers of these children also accept partial responsibility. In other cases, sadly, they disavow this obligation, or hold that it is only the case if the planets align in such a way that they can easily perform their duty. Mothers rarely wait for such a magical alignment of the planets. Their primary concern is food and a table to put it on. So, Fox panel, bully to you if your families are perfect models of an “appropriate” social order. You’ll pardon the rest of us if we get on with the business of living.