Bryan Caplan:
In 1996, the GSS asked:
If the husband in a family wants children, but the wife decides that she does not want any children, is it all right for the wife to refuse to have children?
and
If the wife in a family wants children, but the husband decides that he does not want any children, is it all right for the husband to refuse to have children?
Survey says: 82% affirmed the wife's right to refuse, but only 61% affirmed the same right for husbands. Other than a simple men's rights story, anyone got an explanation?
P.S. Men and women are almost equally likely to hold this double standard. 83% of men (versus 81% of women) affirm women's right to refuse; 60% of men (versus 61% of women) affirm men's right to refuse.
While the question is fascinating in its own right, what popped into my mind was - what if the question was modified to:-
If the husband in a family wants more children, but the wife decides that she does not want any more children, is it all right for the wife to refuse to have children?
and
If the wife in a family wants more children, but the husband decides that he does not want any more children, is it all right for the husband to refuse to have children?
I wonder how the statistics would change...
2 comments:
I remember Charles Schumer quoted as saying (in a profile piece) that he wanted four kids and his wife wanted two, so they comprised on two. My guess is the relative preference for female choice would remain, but percentages in both cases would go up (in favor of the spouse not wanting any additional children). Reproductive rights do not enjoy isonomy in the West, legally or culturally.
Yeah,
Day after day, I get more disillusioned with the West.
Im glad we live in a big world with competing cultures - I know Im big on IQ, but thats only part of the story. Implicit in much of the philosophy of the West, and in my own thought frankly, is that as a Culture 'advances' it approaches what the West is.
It sounds ridiculous when stated so bluntly perhaps, but its implicit nonetheless. Its also only partially true - perhaps only true with regards to Economics and Technology. Once you enter the murky waters of sociology (not mainstream Politically Correct Crapola-Sociology) its a whole other ballgame, with different rules and standards of measurement.
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