I just wanted to make quick reference to the fantastic and insightful comments left after my original Missing Men post.
Firstly, Terry I was thinking of Fight Club when I mentioned being brought up by single mothers. Fight Club was a superb social commentary on precisely this issue (I think).
Jimmeh, I think it is more than anecdotal but this is the only evidence I can really provide. That said, the biggest growing sector of the housing market is that of the single occupant – the evidence isn’t so anecdotal now, is it!
Zer0_o, your comment “Well it’s individualistic romanticism (yea i like taking myself on dates too) that the capitalist forces want us to follow. We are taught to buy for ourselves, think for ourselves, cook and eat for one. Hell, even lollies (candy) are indiviually packaged… What we want is now what they want us to want. What we get is never good enough. What we had was less choice. Less choice meant that people had to work through problems rather than avoid them. What we should have is subjective.” is spot on.
However, I did want to address your comment: “What’s wrong with a family?…A nuclear family does provide a more stable environment for youngsters.” Nothing is wrong with nuclear families, I’m very close to mine and it’s a loyalty and love that I would never swap for anything. What we are (have been) witnessing is a move from the family to the individual. There is possibly a positive to this as it creates a greater level of flexibility in terms of the close support network that you keep (or ‘family’). Too often the nuclear family is a highly abusive place. Moreover, same sex couples are perfectly capable of raising a child in a loving environment. Again, Eckersley is interesting on this topic and refers to the herding instinct of humans. He argues that younger people are redefining these herds and moving from extended families to close friends who communicate so heavily as is evidenced by the massive explosion of mobile phones and other ICT technology.
My point is that what a child, or adult for that matter, needs most is a loving caring environment. Sometimes a nuclear family can provide that. Sometimes it can. Just like less traditional families can provide this, while others can’t. Lets not forget how privileged some of us are.
And finally Alan. By no means to I wish to suggest that the only incentive men have to couple up is to live in domestic bliss. My point is that there is a significant change in roles being witnessed. This is good in that women are doing less house work, but bad in terms of a loss of a skill set (which shouldn’t be gender specific).
As for linking Globalisation with the love lives of 25-35 year olds, I stand firm. However, just to clarify, my point is that globalisation will affect different people, countries, demographics and so on differently. Globalisation is omnipotent.
“The question is equally valid from the other side, where are all the decent single women?” That’s a great question and I obviously had my blinkers on not to wonder about this my self. I guess this has a lot to do with my question being about the women looking for the men. For whatever reason, women have not shied from coupling and are left looking for men. I’d suggest it has something to do with the way traditional roles are still imposed on women, at least more so than men.
