Do Militarists and Prudes Mix?
I hope Eve Fairbanks got hazard pay for researching her New Republic article on conservative dating services. She's uncovered some sociological data that confirm just how culturally schizophrenic the Bush base is — or at least the narrow part of it that uses dating services:
Explore posts in the same categories: Ideology, Social criticismThe women on ConservativeMatch–at least the women of Washington, Virginia–are both much rarer and more quintessentially "conservative" than the men are. Out of the 40 profiles I considered, only ten were women. Several of these described themselves as "simple," even "prudish" girls with "old-school" values, looking for a "manly" or "boy scout" sort of guy. ("He must not smoke, cuss, or spit.") All ten were seriously practicing Christians, and only one disagreed that sex outside of marriage is immoral. Favorite books included Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice (or, as one put it, "anything from 18th century England").
The men are strikingly different. They are not, for the most part, serious values conservatives. Over half of the 30 men I initially viewed believe that sex before marriage is OK ("Heck," one wrote, "I think that some marriages are immoral"), and twelve–or 40 percent–believe abortion may not need to be illegal. Their conservatism manifests itself more in a libertarian sensibility, in diehard patriotism, in the desire for a strong defense, even in matters of taste, like an appreciation for country living. …
…The men on ConservativeMatch embrace a composite machismo of military culture, Western movies, the "don't-tread-on-me" spirit. The women simply don't want men to jump down their pants.
No matter what the implications, the divide seems sad. Despite the site's goal, these men and these women do not go together. If Democrats feel down these days, they ought to take heart: It looks like they'll win the breeding game.
This entry was posted on June 25, 2006 at 6:59 pm and is filed under Ideology, Social criticism. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.
June 25, 2006 at 11:55 pm
The New Republic’s notion that men and women have to be very similar to be sexually attracted to each other sounds more like the opposite of the truth. The popularity of this myth may help explain the late marriages and low birth rates in Blue States.
June 26, 2006 at 12:14 am
That's a good point. Thanks for the comment. On the other hand, it does seem like the whole point of using an ideological dating service is to find someone similar to yourself. I'm surprised these things are able to stay in business, let alone proliferate
June 29, 2006 at 10:47 pm
Looks like her dates neede hazard pay. At least the one who wrote about the encounter was never informed that he was a research project.
http://slashdot.org/~GMontag/journal/138427
July 14, 2006 at 3:27 am
Someplace in his postings, the Montag fellow notes that idielogical Conservatives meet their mates at Church and that Ms. Fairbanks should know that from her, alleged, weekly choir activities (see google images).
It follows that Conservatives who do not fit YOUR and her mold seek mates elsewhare, like websites.
This was a puff piece that the Leftists are lapping up as if it were written by Stephen Glass.