The legal power of a father,—for a mother, as such, is entitled to no power, but only to reverence and respect,  the power of a father, I say, over the persons of his children ceases at the age of twenty-one: for they are then enfranchised by arriving at years of discretion, or that point which the law has established, as some must necessarily be established, when the empire of the father, or other guardian, gives place to the empire of reason. Yet, till that age arrives, this empire of the father continues even after his death; for he may by his will appoint a guardian to his children. He may also delegate part of his parental authority, during his life, to the tutor or schoolmaster of his child; who is then in loco.

                   Commentaries on the Laws of England, Sir William Blackstone, 1765-69

JACK W. writes:

I am young and in the position of trying to change a liberal, but naturally feminine woman. This can be very difficult, especially with a woman who is attached to liberalism for non-rational reasons (for example if her family or social identity involves allegiance to feminist ideals) and resists purely dispassionate discussions of feminism and the nature of a good marriage, almost as if with a chip on her shoulder. The only readily available appeal to her emotional side is to plainly declare what I would offer as a husband and what I would expect from a wife. This buys time and further discussion, but fear of loss cannot normally by itself catalyze a change in worldview – I wonder to what extent true change is possible for most.

A liberal woman is a corrupted woman – usually corrupted at a young age to view the world through a distorted lens. This process usually occurs on a mostly unconscious level, and it’s a rare woman who has attempted to rigorously place her liberalism on a theoretical framework. At best, many such women read, or read about, such books as The Feminine Mystique or The Second Sex,or perhaps some other readings handed out in women’s studies classes or in highschool, providing them with a mythology for their world, and themselves, that some women call on more than others in their lives. Read More »

NEW YORK belatedly became the 50th state in the country to enact no-fault divorce recently, making it possible for one spouse to unilaterally end a marriage without proving wrongdoing. Even without the new law, it was fairly easy for one spouse to terminate a marriage against the wishes of the other.

Gov. David A. Paterson said, “These bills fix a broken process that produced extended and contentious litigation, poisoned feelings between the parties and harmed the interests of those persons — too often women — who did not have sufficient financial wherewithal to protect their legal rights. I commend the sponsors on providing a real and effective legislative solution to a problem that has for too long bedeviled ordinary New Yorkers.” Notice how Paterson doesn’t even pretend the bill will reduce divorce.

As women initiate the majority of divorces, men are the primary victims of no-fault divorce, but  many women find themselves involuntarily ending their marriages too. Here is one woman’s account of trying to prevent her divorce in New York before the bill went into effect. One judge asked her: “Doesn’t your husband have the right to move on with his life?”

No-fault divorce undeniably led to the divorce epidemic, which was also set in motion many years ago by the end to the tradition of paternal custody.  Read More »

WESTERN SOCIETY is steadily reverting to matriarchy and witnessing the progressive erosion of democracy. The two developments go hand-in-hand because it is impossible to maintain democracy with large numbers of female-headed households. Formal recognition of paternal authority is necessary to reverse this trend. Men should have primary custody of their biological children, as was commonplace in Western democracies two hundred years ago. This is one of the most basic means of checking the expansion of socialist government and the decline of the family.  Here are continuing comments from readers on the issue of presumptive paternal custody, which was discussed in this entry.

Read More »

A READER writes:

I really like these simple yet profound observations. My husband and I have commented on this “look” often. We are far from perfect, but have held fast to the narrow path, and that involves fresh air, books, music, food cooked at home, and lots of creative play borne out of “boredom.” We have prayed for friends who value similar things, and have been blessed in this regard. Just yesterday, a friend and I were able to talk on the patio as we witnessed games of dolls, slides, wagons, and dirt unfold on the lawn. Such play does give a sparkle to the eyes, roses to the cheeks, and tone to the muscles. My nieces are not so blessed, and it is always a privilege for us to have them over for a day or two, feed them, and give them a taste of carefree childhood existence apart from screens, daycare, and marital strife. Thank you for expressing so concisely some notions that have been swirling in my mind. 

Laura writes:

Most children get some outdoor play, some idle time, and some homecooked food but in general the wholesome childhood has become marginal and atypical. To raise children in the way you describe is now subversive, a radical stance  against a sick society.

LIV writes:

I have been reading your blog for a half a year now. I actually started calling myself a traditionalist a year before that, after I spent some time abroad on my own and, for lack of a better expression,  saw the light. Your blog has been a great help to me. I started out  reading the male perspective online and continue to do so, but am also grateful for the balance you provide. Recently you and your readers have been discussing the subject of  man-bashing and how it stems from assumed male authority. The  following comment of John P. made me consider the situation in my home:

“As to hierarchy breeding resentment, I think this is untrue. Bad  hierarchy breeds resentment. There are many men who are vastly better  at squash than I am and I feel not the slightest resentment toward  their position because it is self-evident that they have earned their  superior position through a transparent and rule oriented process.  Resentment of superiors emerges when the leadership is observably no  better, or even worse, than the led, a condition I see as becoming  worryingly ubiquitous in liberal society.”

Read More »

JAMES P. writes:

There are wonderful pictures of British children from the 1940s to the 1960s here. Note the picture of the teacher leading morning prayers, and the boys using roller skates with no helmets or pads — both very shocking by today’s standards.

Meanwhile, today, one child in four in the UK is born to an immigrant mother.

Read More »

JOHN E. writes:

JULIA ROBERTS spoke in a recent Elle interview on being a wife and mother:

“The children became the shooting stars of him[her husband], of that thing we have. How lucky we are that we love each other so much that we burst into three pieces.” 

Read More »

Julia Roberts poses in a Hindu temple with her son

Read More »

TEXANNE writes:

Another book about the quest to discover whether men and women are different (and if so, why), is briefly reviewed in the New York Times this week. An interesting quote by a transexual person (a male who has in some way been transformed into a female) provides a clue apparently overlooked by all the gender scholars and brain scientists hard at work on this mystery: 

“The more I was treated as a woman, the more woman I became.”  Read More »

IN TOLSTOY’S famous novel about female betrayal, the title character, Anna Karenina, is forced to abandon her young child in order to live with her lover. The tension between maternal love for her son and sexual passion is a running theme throughout the book and ultimately contributes to her death, wherein the beautiful Anna throws herself under the wheels of a train, a woman destroyed by her impulsive nature.

The end is extreme but this was once the only choice for a woman leaving her husband: her lover or her children. In colonial America, as well as nineteenth century Russia, a father had presumptive custody of his children. Divorce was rare and was not even recognized in most of the colonies or early states. However, a woman had no legal claim to her own children, who were considered the charges of fathers.

Today, in an age when mothers are overwhelmingly favored for legal custody of children, this seems unimaginable. But given the vast system of abuses perpetrated by family courts, the epidemic of female abandonment of husbands, the arrests and restraining orders against fathers, and the general decline of marriage, the old way more and more makes urgent sense. Children, when in dispute, should automatically go with their fathers, not their mothers, as is commonly assumed. A father, as head of the household, should have the right to award custody to a mother. But no court should usurp his powers and authority over his own children.

Some of the greatest injustices in the modern world are committed against fathers. Their basic rights must be restored. State-imposed destruction of the institution of fatherhood is nothing less than tyrannical and benefits women not at all.

Read More »

DALE F. writes: 

The other day, a friend sent me a link to a piece by Will Hutton, a writer for the UK Guardian, contemplating mostly with satisfaction the civilizational accomplishments of his (and my) “baby boom” generation. 

This morning I saw this article:

The first school in the D.C. area named after the current president opens Monday morning as the school year begins in Prince George’s County. Read More »

IN THIS discussion about man-bashing, I wrote:

Women have this natural tendency to blame men that stems from relying on men, and they also resort to this habit even when they are themselves at fault.

The analogy of employer and employee has serious limitations here because a husband-and-wife relationship is different and is based on mutual love. Still it works because the employee assumes the employer is in charge, as a wife often does with regard to a husband. Feminists wouldn’t admit this of course, but I believe this is one reason why anger at men only rises under feminism. Male authority is destroyed and yet women still presume it. The angry and embittered single mother is a perfect example of this. She has all the freedom from men she could possibly want and yet she is still enraged at them.

Read More »

UNDER the tag of “bigotry,” a student at Yale has written a column at The Huffington Post about the discussion here over the offer of a stroller by lesbian neighbors. Leah Anthony Libresco correctly states that I believe the “act of being openly and visibly lesbian is an offense against the feelings of others.” She (or he?) compares this to the prejudice of opponents to the proposed mosque at Ground Zero. The piece also appeared in Islamophobia Today.

The link between the two subjects is not as absurd as it sounds. Both radical homosexuality and Islam are avowed enemies of Western culture. Read More »

CHILDREN who spend their childhoods playing look different from children who spend their childhoods plugged in to the electronic mastermind of a crass culture.

Children fed by their mothers look different from children fed by food-processing companies and fast food outlets.

Children who have fathers look different from children who have no fathers, or who have fathers and stepfathers.

Children who have free time look different from children who spend all day in organized routines.

Read More »

Jesse Powell writes:

I get the uneasy feeling that what started off as a story of a single mother who let her hostility towards men damage her son has turned to the subject of why women bash men in general and then finally degenerated into woman-bashing, men’s rights style. 

If I could make some generalized comments here, not so much specifically in regards to Andrew’s nephew, whose story is very troubling, but more generally on the subject of man-bashing. It is definitely true that man-bashing is a commonplace, that masculinity is treated as a disease, etc. The question is, why do women “dish it out” and why do men “take it” and even go along with it?  Read More »

Andrew S. writes:

Recently my extended family got together for a rare vacation. Including my family (wife and three young sons, all below the age of 14), we were joined by my sister and her family (daughter in her early twenties and son also under 14, and the same age as my oldest, 12). As you will have noticed, my sister has no husband and her two children have different fathers (she was married to her daughter’s father but they divorced many years ago). We live in different states and lead very different lives.  Read More »