...that Gov. Scott Walker feels relaxed and at home being interviewed by a radio station that describes an incredibly anachronistic role for women? We're so inundated by news stories proclaiming the alleged "decline of men" that we forget the threats to what women have achieved that come from within and without. As a result of policy and politics dominated by suburbia and exurbia, we ship massive amounts of wealth to a society that doesn't even allow women to drive. To appeal to a specific, highly motivated block of voters who deliver election victories, political conservatives are in league with people who advocate "boundaries" for women that would preclude even sending a personal e-mail to a married man without copying his wife. That's not boundaries, that's obsessional thinking--and religious bodies that instill such ideas are psychologically abusing their followers.
I have to admit sometimes thinking sarcastic thoughts about Alverno College's billboards; the young women don't look exactly pleasant. Yet women's right to pursue and excel in higher education and careers is what our American society has achieved. It's part of what I fight for as a citizen, and would die for if necessary. I think there's a powerful argument to be made that the Right is veering far from what the American flag stands for, and what soldiers have bled and died for. In my opinion, that argument isn't being made vehemently enough.
Perhaps liberal, higher-educated American society is failing--culturally, demographically, politically, religiously, and seemingly in every other sphere--because its claims aren't being backed up with enough balls (pardon that word choice). It presents itself as the kinder, gentler, more humane alternative--but it's equally something worth fighting and, where necessary, bleeding for.
