That Word 'Family"
Something keeps bothering me about the Cons use of the words 'Canadian families'. Clearly every Canadian is the member of a family, so why not just say 'Canadians'. I think Mr. H. et al should be asked to define this word they love to use so much. Are they using the word as a sort of code word for their political base, the social conservatives who define 'family' to meet their own sense of the desired world order?
I think the word 'family' as the cons use it is really about two things: sex and its corollary, control over the role of women in society. Socially conservative people have very strong ideas about sex, who can do it, and with whom, and when, and mostly it's the men who have the ideas and the women buy into them. It follows from their beliefs around the role of sex, and the right of men to determine this role, that men have the ultimate say in the fate of their progeny. It also follows that social conservatives feel that a woman's primary role is to look after the home, raise the children and submit to the will of the man in the family.
Personally I find this way of looking at the world obscene. I find the use of the word 'family' in this way in politics an invasion of the privacy and rights of every Canadian citizen. I also think that this obsession with sex and control is unhealthy - for them and everyone around them. And finally, I find this use of 'family' by the cons unimaginably hypocritical, given the variety of life-styles among them.
I think the word 'family' as the cons use it is really about two things: sex and its corollary, control over the role of women in society. Socially conservative people have very strong ideas about sex, who can do it, and with whom, and when, and mostly it's the men who have the ideas and the women buy into them. It follows from their beliefs around the role of sex, and the right of men to determine this role, that men have the ultimate say in the fate of their progeny. It also follows that social conservatives feel that a woman's primary role is to look after the home, raise the children and submit to the will of the man in the family.
Personally I find this way of looking at the world obscene. I find the use of the word 'family' in this way in politics an invasion of the privacy and rights of every Canadian citizen. I also think that this obsession with sex and control is unhealthy - for them and everyone around them. And finally, I find this use of 'family' by the cons unimaginably hypocritical, given the variety of life-styles among them.
posted by Susan at 12:53 PM
1 Comments:
It is even worse here in the states. Women here seem to be buying into this philosophy at an ever alarming rate. They claim not to but their actions and reactions speak differently. Some of this seems to be connected with Americas re-newed religiousity. Baby boomers trying to catch up on their "god points" before cashing in and younger generations....well I don't know how to explain that one. 9/11 also seems to have exaserbated this phenomenon. After 9/11 every one had a desire to be "protected" and of course we know how that works for the man/women dynamic.
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