AS a historian, I've spent much of my career warning people about the dangers of nostalgia. But as a mother, watching my son graduate from medical school on Thursday, I have been awash in nostalgia all week.
Articles
The Sunday Times of London
Males are in trouble at school and at work: not because women are on the rise but because they cling to a myth of manhood.Fifty years ago last week, Betty Friedan published The Feminine Mystique, igniting an impassioned debate over her claim that millions of housewives were desperately unhappy, suffering from "the problem that has no name".
The New York Times
THIS week is the 50th anniversary of the publication of Betty Friedan's international best seller, "The Feminine Mystique," which has been widely credited with igniting the women's movement of the 1960s. Readers who return to this feminist classic today are often puzzled by the absence of concrete political proposals to change the status of women. But "The Feminine Mystique" had the impact it did because it focused on transforming women's personal consciousness.
natural awakenings
Relationship Expert Stephanie Coontz Shares Go-To Guidelines Stephanie Coontz, professor of history and family studies at The Evergreen State College, in Olympia, Washington, shares her learned perspective in an intriguing oeuvre of books—Marriage, A History: How Love Conquered Marriage; The Way We Never Were; The Way We Really Are; and A Strange Stirring. She’s also co-chair and director of public education at the University of Miami’s research-based nonprofit Council on Contemporary…
The Economist
Rebuttal statementsDefending the motion: Ron Haskins, Senior Fellow, Economic Studies Program
If we could devise ways to increase the marriage rate with modest negative outcomes such as somewhat increased divorce, adults, children and society would be better off. But can it be done?
Against the motion: Stephanie Coontz, Teacher, The Evergreen State College, Olympia, WA
The Economist
Opening statements
Defending the motion: Ron Haskins, Senior Fellow, Economic Studies Program
The question of whether the government is involved in marriage has already been answered in the affirmative by the many local, state, and federal laws and regulations that affect marriage.
Against the motion: Stephanie Coontz, Teacher, The Evergreen State College, Olympia, WA
Rumours of the death of marriage are greatly exaggerated. Marriage rates are calculated on the basis of how many women over…