A Natural Man & Woman Do-Over Cometh?

When ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit feels safe enough to say he’s “done giving any s***s” about pushback over his anti-men in women’s sports stance, you suspect it’s also a part of a much larger movement to turn back the clock on gender roles.

Put another way, just as many Americans are coming to believe the lgbtq folks & their supporters have gone too far including transgenders in what are traditionally women’s only sports, a “vocal group of Americans believes the country has also strayed too far from a focus on supporting heterosexual couples & their children. At least, so suggests a recent WSJ article. In fact, we’re told, “A conservative vision of America has gained momentum among those who fear American culture has swung too far from their long-held ideal of what a family should look like, and, in some quarters, reject deviations from that view.” Besides the Herbstreits of the world, the WSJ sees “resurfaced comments from GOP VP nominee JD Vance about the political influence of “childless cat ladies,” & his worries about Americans’ reluctance to have children, reflect a deeper movement coursing through politics, social media, churches & households.”

Hence, a resurgence of the “natural family”? The paper delves into the religious angle, but also points out that a more restrictive view of family & gender roles “have been energized by divisive national battles over social issues that … strike at the core of that vision: transgender rights, gay rights & reproductive rights.” After overturning the Roe v Wade abortion decision, the US Supreme Court found the guts to again enter the fray this week by blocking a Biden Title IX change that would have arguably extended lgbtq/transgender rights to bathrooms & women sports. Ironically perhaps, the pro-nuclear family push also comes “in the midst of women’s recent workforce gains & a falling birthrate driven by rising childlessness.” Maybe the biggest mystery is why the debate took so long to be TWO rather than ONE sided.

Davd Soul