by Erika Bachiochi (@erikabachiochi)
For those concerned about the demographic cliff that is now before us, the growing cleavage between the sexes is not an encouraging trend. We often hear on the political right how gender polarization is manifesting itself: how young men are becoming more conservative, young women, more progressive; how young men are becoming more tradition-minded, young women, more career-focused; how young men are returning to traditional religion, young women to astrology and yoga; how young men want to get married, young women, not so much.
Regardless of the perfect accuracy of these statements, they are characteristic of a widely shared conservative perspective. And so, conservatives—with a defining respect for tradition, religious piety, and monogamous life-giving marriage—can find it easy to side with the men. But to wrap our minds fully around this polarization, and to find an authentic path to bring the sexes back together, more traditional and religiously-minded folks should seek to understand the matter as it concerns young women.
