In a 2023 Pew poll, 71 percent of Americans said that “having a job or career they enjoy” is extremely or very important for people to live a “fulfilling life.” Only 23 percent said the same thing about being married.
Given the widening cultural gap between the sexes and the declining rates of marriage, you may never meet someone who truly loves you. But you can work hard. You can make money.
— from an op-ed by David French in The New York Times, February 2024.
A surprising number of columnists, this year — including David French, and myself — have written this year about the “immense political gender gap”. A recent Gallup poll had found American women slip-sliding to the left, politically, and American men stumbling to the right. Especially, younger women and men, aged 18-34. Other polls showed the same thing happening.
Mr. French and I, and dozens of other columnists looking for potentially interesting subject matter for their columns, jumped at the chance to pontificate.
Or criticize the crazy culture in which we find ourselves living and working, striving for a fulfilling life. Knowing that we may never meet someone who truly loves us.
And even if we did find someone who truly loved us, we will most likely find out we disagree, politically.
This whole idea, though, about never finding anyone who truly loves you. That’s a hard one. I mean, what man or woman — even a man or woman aged 18-34 — would prefer having “a job or career they enjoy” over being married?
But the Pew Research Center seems to think that’s what Americans prefer… if they want to be fulfilled. (And who doesn’t want that?)
Almost half the respondents thought “Being married” was “Not too important” or “Not at all important”.
But I don’t like the way the Pew people phrased those questions.
They asked if “Having a job or career you enjoy” is important. 71% said, “Yes, indeed.”
Then they asked if “Being married” is important. Only 23% said yes.
Unfair! Unfair!
If the Pew people really wanted to know what’s fulfilling, the questions would have been much less biased.
“In general, for people to live a fulfilling life, is having a job or career you enjoy important?”
“In general, for people to live a fulfilling life, is having a marriage you enjoy important?”
The Pew survey people inserted “enjoyment” into the job question, but left it out of the marriage question.
I suspect that 71% of Americans embrace the idea that a job or career they enjoy would be fulfilling, because they don’t have one. Lots of Americans have a job. But how many of us actually enjoy it?
Only 23% of Americans think “Being married” is important, because they find it’s not an enjoyable experience.
And it’s not enjoyable because the woman is becoming a liberal.
How can you truly love someone who voted for Bernie Sanders?