Feminists in the ’60s and ’70s had a slogan that sought to politicize the household: The personal is political. The rallying cry was meant to challenge traditional family values and the expectation that women should be caring wives and mothers who looked after the home. Breaking free from the “prison” of the nuclear family was described as “liberating” for American women.
So-called “student activists” and “black liberation” groups adopted the argument for their own purposes, and protest movements sought out ways to invade Americans’ private spaces. The idea was to make people feel uncomfortable so that they were forced to acknowledge whatever “issues” protesters were pushing. Feminists, anti-war activists, and civil rights protesters targeted citizens in restaurants, movie theaters, parks, churches, and shopping districts. They made it impossible for ordinary families to enjoy ordinary days without being force-fed heaping spoonfuls of acidic politics.
These kinds of aggressive tactics that politicize every part of life have come with tremendous costs. Generations of women increasingly resented their traditional roles as wives and mothers. Rising divorce rates fractured the stability of nuclear families. Divorced men abandoned their children. Children grew up without both male and female role models. Young adults entered the workforce before first acquiring basic social skills normally developed during childhood.
More broadly, society suffered because the space between the political sphere and the social sphere entirely disappeared. Society and the political State are not the same thing. Government, laws, taxes, and mandates come with either the application or threat of force. The political State is coercion. Society, on the other hand, is much broader. It includes a people’s religion, customs, traditions, history, and familiar interactions. Those influences certainly “push” people to behave in certain ways, but there is considerable room for disagreement and compromise. Society is cooperation.
It would be difficult for young Americans to appreciate this fact, but seventy years ago, much of the social sphere flourished beyond the reach of raw politics. Men belonged to veterans’ organizations, bowling leagues, and public service groups. Women volunteered to help local schools, held book clubs, and organized social gatherings. Children attended summer camps, worked low-wage jobs, and participated in school clubs. Families attended church and enjoyed local festivals. Neighborhood functions brought entire blocks of families together. “Belonging” to things mattered to people. Membership numbers for recreational clubs and civic organizations during the first half of the twentieth century were much higher than they are today.
Politics did not always dominate American society.
Feminism is bullsh*t. I am just another tax slave.