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"MARRIAGE" In The News
(May 2007) |
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The news articles and features presented below are simply an indication of how topical, controversial, and all-encompassing the issues surrounding marriage are throughout our society--and the world-- today. Some of the views and opinions expressed, and their respective web sites, do NOT reflect the views or opinions of The Real Proposal™ magazine. Many are highlighted largely to reiterate that the alarming statistical trends on the chaotic state of "Marriage" and "Family"--outlined in "A Mere Glimpse"--will continue unabated without a fundamental grasp and purposeful dissemination of TRUTH on the issues.
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- eHarmony sued for
excluding gays
Matchmaking site founded by evangelical Christian Dr. Neil Clark
Warren REUTERS, By Jill Serjeant, May 31, 2007
- The popular online
dating service eHarmony was sued on Thursday for refusing to offer
its services to gays, lesbians and bisexuals. A lawsuit
alleging discrimination based on sexual orientation was filed in
Los Angeles Superior Court on behalf of Linda Carlson, who was
denied access to eHarmony because she is gay. Lawyers
bringing the action said they believed it was the first lawsuit of
its kind against eHarmony, which has long rankled the gay community
with its failure to offer a “men seeking men” or “women seeking
women” option. They were seeking to make it a class action lawsuit
on behalf of gays and lesbians denied access to the dating service.
eHarmony was founded in 2000 by evangelical Christian Dr. Neil
Clark Warren and had strong early ties with the influential
religious conservative group Focus on the Family. It has more than
12 million registered users, and heavy television advertising has
made it one of the nation’s biggest Internet dating sites. .
RELATED ARTICLE: Gay couple barred from adoption site settle
lawsuit SAN
FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, By Henry K. Lee, May 22, 2007
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- Book Review: Forbidden Fruit: Sex & Religion in
the Lives of American Teenagers
Even Evangelical Teens Do It: How religious beliefs
do, and don't, influence sexual
behavior SLATE, By Hanna Rosin, May 30, 2007
A 19-year-old virgin walks
into a bar. He's got his lucky cross in his pocket and his best
jersey on. Please God, he says to himself, let this be the night.
He spies a girl sitting at a table--blonde, wholesome-looking, just
his type. He sidles up closer to the girl, who is chatting with
some friends. Over the din, he can make out snippets of her
conversation: at Bible study the other night...Pastor Ted
says...saving it for marriage. Discouraged, he walks away in search
of a more promising target. Did he make the correct decision?
Or did he make a hasty judgment and miss a chance for a possible
love connection? The answer to such a question can be found in
Forbidden Fruit: Sex & Religion in the Lives of American
Teenagers by Mark Regnerus, a professor of sociology at the
University of Texas at Austin. The book is a serious work of
sociology based on several comprehensive surveys of young adults,
coupled with in-depth interviews. But it could also double as a
guide for teenage boys on the prowl (who's easier, a Catholic girl
or a Jew?) or for parents of teenage girls worrying about what will
happen if their daughters keep skipping church. . . . Teenagers who
identify as "evangelical" or "born again" are highly likely to
sound like the girl at the bar; 80 percent think sex should be
saved for marriage. But thinking is not the same as doing. . .
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Parenting Issues: Alpha mums: The
backlash The Daily Mail-
UK, By Lauren Booth, May 30, 2007Battle lines are being
drawn between mums who hothouse children - and the Beta mums who
don't. So whose side are you on? . . . . A new Mummy War has broken
out over the "best" way to bring up children - and it's causing a
deep and rancorous gulf between two tribes of women who regard each
other with disdain and dislike. But this time the battle for school
gate superiority has less to do with whether or not women work
full-time or stay at home, and everything to do with time
management versus tree climbing. Step forward the Alpha and Beta
mothers. The Alpha mother has reigned supreme for more than a
decade. Held up as an aspirational role model for the rest of us,
she never has a hair out of place and can be spotted tapping
urgently into her Blackberry on the school run. This sort of woman
treats parenthood as a project to be managed down to the last
second. Fiercely organised, she's likely to be highpowered and
well-educated. Aren't you feeling inferior already? But there's
more to an Alpha mum than that. . . . But now, at last, there is a
Beta backlash from the millions of mothers who cannot and will not
see their children turned into little automatons with no aim in
life but to strive relentlessly for as many accolades and
achievements as possible. The battle has burst into life in the
U.S. with the publication of a series of books aimed at persuading
mothers that less is more when it comes to organising your family's
lives. . .
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- Orphanage friends find love after 45 years
apart Daily Mail- UK, By PAUL SIMS, May 30, 2007
From their first shy
glances across the orphanage, Alan Brogan and Irene Kinnair knew
they would be friends.
But forced apart by the authorities, who feared a budding romance,
it has taken them almost 45 years to find each other again. This
time, though, there won't be any more enforced separations. They
married earlier this month. A chance meeting in a city street three
years ago finally began the romance that was nipped in the bud. "I
know it sounds strange, but I just knew it was her. I could never
forget that smile," said Mr Brogan, 54. "And she was exactly the
same. "She said she knew it was me the minute she saw me standing
in the street." . . . . Both went on to brief marriages but
divorced many years ago. Miss Kinnair, in fact, used to look out
for Mr Brogan every time she visited Whitby. He was however, living
a few streets from her in Sunderland. So perhaps it was merely a
matter of time before they met up again. When she recognised him in
the city centre in March 2004, she didn't hesitate to call out. "It
was crazy," she said. "Staring back at me was the little boy I used
to know. "He just held me in his arms and I thought he was never
going to let go. He told the friend I was with: 'I've loved this
lady all my life'. . . . . .
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- Don't teach that marriage is best
say academics The
Evening Standard- This is London, May 30, 2007
Academics are calling for teachers to be banned from
promoting marriage in the classroom. They say homosexuality must be
given equal status to stop the spread of "bigoted" attitudes in
schools and university campuses. Current Government guidance on sex
education says children must be taught "the importance of marriage
for family life". Teachers are also permitted to voice their
opposition to homosexuality if it stems from personal or religious
conviction. This allows faith schools to teach that same- sex
relationships are at odds with their religion. But members of the
University and College Union - representing 120,000 lecturers - are
calling for a change in the law to stop teachers telling children
that marriage is superior to gay partnerships. . . The call is
certain to infuriate religious groups. The Church of England is
among faiths which lobbied the Government for gay rights laws to
continue to allow Anglican schools to teach that the Bible forbids
homosexuality. But Stephen Desmond, from Thames Valley University,
told delegates: "We must never allow freedom of religion to be
hijacked and used as a pretext to discriminate against gay and
lesbian teenagers in schools." . . . .
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RELATED ARTICLE: UK: Religious Schools May Not Teach Christian Sexual Morals "As if They Were Objectively True" LifeSiteNews.com, By Hilary White, March 5, 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: Prominent scholars release "Ten Principles on Marriage and the Public Good" The Witherspoon Institute, June 9, 2006
RELATED ARTICLE: The Meaning of Marriage (Part 2): Interview With Princeton's Robert George Zenit News Agency- Italy, Mar 22, 2006
RELATED ARTICLE: The Meaning of Marriage (Part 1): Interview with Princeton's Robert George Zenit News Agency- Italy, Mar 20, 2006
RELATED ARTICLE: Love, Marriage, and the Baby Carriage: Revisiting the Channelling Function of Family Law Social Science Research Network, By Linda C. McClain, Hofstra University School of Law, CARDOZO LAW REVIEW, Vol. 28, No. 101, 2007
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Book Review: Forbidden Fruit:
Sex & Religion in the Lives of American Teenagers
Hormonographics: Red states, blue states, and sex
before marriage WEEKLY STANDARD, By W. Bradford Wilcox, May 28,
2007
Discussions and debates about teenage
sex in America tend to generate more heat than light. Religious
conservatives protest sex education programs that do not begin to
influence our young people as much as the pornification of popular
culture, even as secular progressives promote a Swedish-style model
of adolescent "sexual health" that does not begin to reckon with
the emotional import of teen sex, particularly for girls. Rarely do
advocates on both sides of the issue--not to mention observers in
the media--take a sober, honest look at what is really happening on
the ground to our nation's teens in this domain of life.
Thankfully, Forbidden Fruit is that rare book that casts
more light than heat. Indeed, Mark D. Regnerus's commitment to
telling the truth about teenage sex in all of its gritty complexity
leads him to a number of intriguing and surprising conclusions. In
particular, his findings about religion, region, and sex are bound
to surprise partisans, experts, and journalists alike. . .
. Forbidden Fruit offers a number of
sobering conclusions: The vast majority of teens engage in sex
before they turn 20; most teens (including evangelicals from the
South) who support virginity in theory don't manage to practice it
in real life; and teenage sex seems to exact a serious emotional
toll on a significant number of girls. . .
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- Health Issues: The Survivor Monologues: Life on the
other side of (Cancer)
diagnosis New York magazine, May 28, 2007 Issue
Elizabeth Edwards. Tony
Snow. Fred Thompson. The sudden commonplaceness of cancer in the
political landscape—and the extent to which it is discussed as
something to live with, rather than to succumb to—illustrates the
degree to which our attitudes about cancer have changed in the past
few years, helped along by a vast and growing medical
armamentarium. Two decades ago, cancer was a sentence, with a
period at the end. Now it’s rambling—discursive, ending uncertain.
What follows are stories that attempt to convey the blunt reality
of “living with cancer,” a phrase already ubiquitous and in danger
of losing its specificity. No two cancers are alike; neither, as
the following pages show, are the experiences of the diagnosed. . .
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- Don't dare sneer at your wife's cooking (and other
marriage tips from 1913)
Daily Mail-UK, By SIMON CABLE, May 28,
2007
They are words of wisdom for a happy marriage from
nearly a century ago. Husbands hoping for a quiet life are told not
to sneer at their spouse's cooking or leave things lying around the
house, while wives are warned never to utter the sanctimonious
words "I told you so". The advice comes from a set of guidebooks on
marriage written on the eve of the First World War which are about
to be republished and are predicted to shoot to the top of the
bestseller list. The somewhat old-fashioned "Don'ts for Husbands
and Wives", penned by Blanche Ebbutt in 1913, were first published
at a time when women stayed at home while their husbands went out
to work. Times have changed since then, but the advice could be
considered as relevant today as ever. . . . .The guides are being
reprinted by A&C Black as part of the publisher's bicentenary
celebrations. And in them, Ebbutt also offers readers a glimpse of
her own marital struggles in the preface to "Don'ts for Wives".
"Art is a hard mistress," she explains. "And there is no art quite
so hard as that of being a wife. . . .
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When Stay-at-home Moms Go Back to Work: Trying to Opt
Back In
After decades of debating whether mothers should go
back to work, now women are asking—can
they? Newsweek- MSNBC.com, By Eve Conant, May 28, 2007
Isssue
- Renee Blasko, 33, is at loose ends. "I have been
having an extremely difficult time finding a job after being at
home with my children the past six years. My particular dilemma is
that I hold a college degree and have years of managerial
experience." She e-mailed her concerns to Leslie Morgan Steiner,
who on her Washington Post parenting blog had asked moms to e-mail
her their stories about getting back to work. "I think I am in some
sort of 'job limbo'—too qualified for an entry-level position, but
not able to work full time at a management-level position either,"
Blasko added. With two kids, ages 5 and 3, Blaskois is trying for a
part-time job—and failing. Another mother, Ann Brandewiede of
Cincinnati, took 12 years off. She's now divorced and hitting the
pavement: "I am having the worst time finding a job that is more
than answering the phone or data entry. And they don't pay well
enough to live on." . . . . It has been one of the most contested
questions of the feminist movement of the 1970s and '80s—should
mothers work? But now, on blogs, in op-eds and a host of new books
out this spring, women are arguing about the next question—can
mothers get back to work if they want to? The debate has shifted
from opting out to opting back in. . . .
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Parenting Issues: America's Best High Schools: Why
They Are the Best
How we developed our own unique method for ranking
America's top schools Newsweek- MSNBC.com, By Jay Mathews, May 28, 2007
Issue- NEWSWEEK's list of
America's best high schools, this year with a record 1,258 names,
began as a tale of just two schools. They were Garfield High
School, full of children of Hispanic immigrants in East Los
Angeles, and Mamaroneck High School, a much smaller campus serving
very affluent families in Westchester County, N.Y. I had written a
book about Garfield, and the success of its teachers like Jaime
Escalante in giving low-income students the encouragement and extra
time they needed to master college-level Advanced Placement courses
and tests. . I was finishing a book about Mamaroneck, and was
stunned to find it was barring from AP many middle-class students
who were much better prepared for those classes than the
impoverished students who were welcomed into AP at Garfield. That
turns out to be the rule in most U.S. schools—average students are
considered not ready for, or not deserving of, AP, even though many
studies show that they need the challenge and that success in AP
can lead to success in college. . . .
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RELATED
ARTICLE: The Top of
the Class: The complete list of the 1,200 top U.S.
schools Newsweek-MSNBC.com, May 28, 2007
Issue
RELATED
ARTICLE: How to
Fix No Child Left Behind Time
magazine, By Claudia Wallis, Sonja Steptoe, May 24, 2007
RELATED
ARTICLE: Young,
Gifted, and Not Getting Into Harvard New York
Times, By Michael Winerip, April 29, 2007
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- Home wrecker or harmless fun? The Daily Journal, By Antonio Young, May 26,
2007
Jennifer will never forget the sunny Sunday
afternoon in 1987 when she walked in on her husband looking at
pornography. She had just finished making lunch, and walked
downstairs to tell him to come up and eat. But what she walked in
on made her stomach churn. She opened the door and found him with
an open magazine, masturbating. "I walked out instantly. I was so
angry," said Jennifer, 50. When she later confronted her husband,
he turned it around on her. "He said, 'You're lucky I'm not having
an affair' -- that I did everything to push him away," said
Jennifer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Jennifer admits
her marriage had been on the rocks for years, and the couple had
sought counseling prior to the incident. But more trouble to her
than her husband's controlling nature was his penchance for
pornography. . . . Healthy or harmful? For years,
relationship experts and sex counselors have tried to determine the
impact that X-rated materials have on relationships. Supporters of
porn widely believe that it can add "variety and spice" to love
lives. Others, like Jennifer, claim that when a partner watches
erotica, it is damaging and should be viewed as cheating. So far,
research mostly supports the latter opinion. . . .
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RELATED ARTICLE: Austrailia: Record numbers visiting porn sites Brisbane Times- Austrailia, By Adele Horin, May 26, 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: How porn is wrecking relationships Sydney Morning Herald, By Adele Horin, May 26 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: The Girls Next Door are anything but reality! Crosswalk.com, By David Burchett, May 21, 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: Porn in the pews - Churchmen wrestle with addiction The Jamaica Gleaner, By Dale McNish, November 25, 2006
RELATED ARTICLE: Bottling Up Smut-- Cleaning Up the Public Square Breakpoint.org- By Chuck Colson, June 27, 2005
RELATED ARTICLE: The Porn Factor TIME magazine, By Pamela Paul, January 11, 2004
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- Parenting Issues: Pregnancy
Schools Townhall.com,
By Mona Charen, May 25, 2007
"Schools for Pregnant
Girls, Relic of 1960s New York, Will Close." So announced a
front-page headline in The New York Times. Well, if it's a relic,
obviously it must be bad, right? Right, says the Times.
"Created in the 1960s, when pregnant girls were such pariahs that
they were forced to leave school until their babies were born, the
city school system's four pregnancy schools . . . have lived on . .
." Until now. They will close at the end of the school year "in
recognition of their failure." The Times paints a grim picture of
these schools, virtual warehouses where pregnant teens are given
busy work like sewing quilts instead of studying the Pythagorean
theorem or biology. "It's a separate but unequal program," says
Cami Anderson, superintendent in charge of the pregnancy schools,
which cost taxpayers $33,670 per pupil per year. There it is, in
paragraph seven, the inevitable civil rights reference -- the most
overused and misused comparison in American life. "Separate but
equal" was delegitimized because it made invidious distinctions
based upon nothing more than skin tone. But not every distinction
is unlawful or even unfair. Schools used to separate pregnant girls
from their classmates because it was deemed unseemly to have a
pregnant high school student in the regular classroom. These days,
we've largely removed the stigma. Which system was better? . . .
.
RELATED
ARTICLE: New
York's Schools for Pregnant Girls Will
Close New
York Times, By Julie Bosman, May 24, 2007
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Parenting
Issues: Here are Two Little Words That Need to Be
Reintroduced to Folks of Every Race: Home
Training BlackAmericaWeb, By Gregory Kane, May 24,
2007It isn’t about race; it’s
about “home training.” I suspect any black person over the
age of 40 is familiar with the phrase “home training.” Or, to be
more specific, “no home training.” Black kids would say it all the
time when I was growing up: Whenever somebody cut the fool, acted
up or gave a display of inappropriate conduct, we’d look at that
person, shake our heads and come to one conclusion. “No home
training,” we’d say. Elizabeth Kandrac, a white teacher who taught
at a predominantly black middle school in South Carolina several
years ago, found out the hard way why a lot of American teachers of
all races don’t want to teach in middle schools: Too many students
who don’t seem to have any home training. Kandrac has been in the
news lately. A federal judge ruled that school officials in the
Charleston County school district created a racially hostile work
environment for her by not disciplining the black students who
assaulted her, cursed her and called her racial epithets.
Conservative Web sites and bloggers had a field day with the news,
of course. Kathleen Parker, a syndicated columnist, felt Kandrac’s
saga was all about race. . .
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- Readers respond to
hand in marriage question: What did you think about
it? MSNBC,
By Gail Saltz, May 24, 2007
Dr. Gail Saltz shares
letters she received. . . . My column, “Is asking for her
hand in marriage outdated?” drew so many interesting letters that I
would like to share some here. . . . From Jane in
Illinois: I disagree that nobody believes that a future
husband must ask the bride's father for her hand in marriage. Some
of us still believe in tradition, and the fact that my husband
asked my father without my prompting made me even more sure he was
the right guy for me. You may be speaking for some when you say
nobody believes in asking for a hand in marriage, but you don't
speak for all!. . . From Kristin in New York: I
strongly disagree with your response. There are some fathers who
see this tradition as their one contribution as a father, and
therefore treasure the chance to honor their daughters’ union by
keeping this secret. I think you did this mother a disservice by
not offering alternative viewpoints such as this one. . .
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- Baby Cheney, Weighed on Political Scale,
Too Washington Post, By Amy Argetsinger and Roxanne Roberts,
May 24, 2007
Mary Cheney gave birth
yesterday to perhaps the most anticipated baby in contemporary U.S.
politics -- her first child, Samuel David Cheney, whom she will
raise with her longtime partner, Heather Poe. The 8-pound 6-ounce
boy is the sixth grandchild for Dick Cheney. The vice president and
his wife, Lynne, both beaming, posed for a photo with him just
hours after his 9:46 a.m. birth at Washington's Sibley Hospital.
And that, it seems, will be that for now in terms of public comment
from the family about the baby, who launched a lively debate when
Cheney, 38, first discussed her pregnancy in December. . . . At an
N.Y.C. forum sponsored by Glamour magazine last winter, Mary Cheney
responded to questions, saying: "This is a baby. This is a blessing
from God. It is not a political statement. It is not a prop to be
used in a debate by people on either side of an issue. It is my
child." But she also went on to declare that "every piece of
remotely responsible research" had demonstrated "no difference
between children who are raised by same-sex parents and children
raised by opposite-sex parents.". . . .
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RELATED
ARTICLE: Mary
Cheney’s pregnancy is, indeed,
political PopMatters, By Andrea Lewis-Progressive Media Project,
February 11, 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: Mary
Cheney makes big news at Glamour’s event Glamour magazine, February 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: Mary
Cheney defends same-sex parenthood: Vice president's lesbian
daughter says baby not 'prop' San Francisco Chronicle, By Katharine Q. Seelye- New York
Times, February 2, 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: Who's
Your Daddy? My Father Was an Anonymous Sperm Donor The Washington Post, By Katrina Clark, December 17,
2006
RELATED ARTICLE: Two
Mommies Is One Too Many. Mary Cheney is starting a family. Let's
hope she doesn't start a trend Time magazine, By JAMES C. DOBSON, December 10, 2006
RELATED
ARTICLE: It's a
Cheney! Reality Is a Blessed Event The Washington Post,
By Ruth Marcus, December 8, 2006
RELATED ARTICLE: The Revolution in Parenthood: The Emerging Global
Clash Between Adult Rights and Children's Needs AmericanValues.org
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- New
York Assembly Considers Legalizing Gay “Marriage”
LifesiteNews, May 24, 2007
– The New York State
Assembly will soon consider a bill that would legalize same-sex
“marriage” in the Empire State. The state legislature has seen such
bills for 5 years now. This time, however, backed by Democratic
Gov. Eliot Spitzer and a record number of 53 cosponsors in the
Assembly, homosexual activists have never been closer to imposing
same-sex “marriage” on the state. Daniel O'Donnell, one of three
openly homosexual lawmakers in the Assembly, introduced Gov.
Spitzer's same-sex “marriage” bill in the chamber Monday. The
proposed law would change standing marriage laws by removing gender
from the legal definition of marriage and make denying a marriage
license to homosexual couples illegal. Sources say Assemblyman
O’Donnell hopes for a vote on the governor’s bill in the next few
weeks, although he will not push for a vote until he is confident
the measure has a chance of success. Spitzer’s bill needs 76 votes
to pass in the Democrat-controlled Assembly. That cuts it close for
pro-marriage advocates, since 69 members indicate some support for
same-sex “marriage” while 48 remain undecided and 33 are opposed,
according to a legislative scorecard kept by the Empire State Pride
Agenda. . . . .
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RELATED
ARTICLE: Defining
marriage Washington Times, By Cheryl Wetzstein, May 10,
2007
RELATED ARTICLE: Gay-Wed Bid Splits NY
Dems NEW
YORK POST, By Fredric U. Dicker, May 7, 2007
RELATED
ARTICLE: The Meaning of Marriage (Part
2): Interview With Princeton's Robert George Zenit News
Agency- Italy, Mar 22, 2006
RELATED ARTICLE: The Meaning of Marriage (Part 1): Interview
with Princeton's Robert George Zenit News
Agency- Italy, Mar 20, 2006
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- Marriage showdown looms in
Massachusetts Bay Area Reporter, By Lisa Keen, May 24,
2007
Massachusetts is just
three weeks away from a critical showdown over marriage in its
state legislature. On June 14, the state Senate and House will meet
to take a second and final vote on whether to put on the November
2008 ballot a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. Opponents of
equal marriage rights for gay couples need just 50 votes – 25
percent of the legislature's 200 votes – to succeed. In January,
following a surprise decision by the Senate president to vote on
the measure, they got 62. But there's a new Senate president, a new
Democratic governor, and fewer. Depending on who's talking and
when, gay activists say they have changed the minds of between five
and 10 of the 13 legislators they need to change their votes to
vote "no" this time around. Supporters of the constitutional ban
swear they have a rock solid 53 votes in favor. . . .
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- A Helping Hand: Which One is Too Easy - Marriage or
Divorce? Blogcritics, By Diana Hartman, May 22, 2007
The state of families in America today has me concerned
about the future. Is divorce just too easy or is it that marriage
is too easy? The only people who think divorce is easy have
never been divorced. The process itself can take anywhere from 24
hours to many years. Even then, it isn't the process that's
particularly difficult - it's the aftermath. An 18-month waiting
time for a marriage license is a good idea, and doing away with
common law marriage is one step better. Studies of human biology
back this up as it takes an average of 18 months from the time a
(heterosexual and fertile) couple meets until they bring a child
into the world. For many, it is at this point that the
marriage/relationship begins to break down - not because a child
has entered the picture, but because the attraction that brought
them together in the first place has cooled. . . .
RELATED ARTICLE: The return of marriage The Sunday Times- UK, January 14, 2007
RELATED
ARTICLE: Mr and Mrs: the marriage report The Sunday Times-
UK, By Deirdre Fernand, January 14, 2007
TO SEE RELATED SURVEY RESULTS: Click here
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- Depression risk higher for divorced men: Statistics
Canada CBC- Canada, May 22, 2007
When a man's marriage breaks down, he may be at
higher risk of depression than people who remain together and women
who divorce or separate, Statistics Canada reported Tuesday. The
study looked at the link between marriages that break down in
separation or divorce and their effects on emotional health, using
data from the National Population Health Survey. Overall, when a
couple's marriage or common-law relationship ended, depression
occurred in about 12 per cent of cases, compared with three per
cent among people who remained in a relationship, two years after
participants were first interviewed in 1994-1995. Men aged 20 to 64
who had divorced or separated were six times more likely to report
an episode of depression than were men who remained married. The
comparable depression figure for women left alone after broken
marriages was 3.5 times more likely. . . . Considering that nearly
71,000 married couples divorced and thousands more separated in
2003 and the link between divorce and mental health problems,
"these findings are relevant to population health," the study
concluded. . . .
RELATED STUDY
REPORT: Marital
breakdown and subsequent
depression Statistics Canada, By Michelle Rotermann, May 22,
2007
RELATED
ARTICLE: In Depth:
Depression: An illness, not a
weakness CBC- Canada, January 12, 2007
RELATED
ARTICLE: In depth: Marriage: Marriage
by the numbers CBC- Canada, March 9, 2005
RELATED
ARTICLE: Fewer
Canadian marriages end in divorce
CBC- Canada, May 4, 2004
RELATED
ARTICLE: Splitting Up:
Canadians Get Divorced
CBC- Canada
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- 'Bachelor' Andy Baldwin proposes to Tessa Horst, rejects
Bevin Powers RealityWorld, By Christopher Rocchio, May 22,
2007
Tessa Horst, a 26-year-old
San Francisco social worker, accepted the final rose -- and a
marriage proposal -- from U.S. Navy Lieutenant Andy Baldwin during
the final Rose Ceremony at the conclusion of last night's finale of
ABC's The Bachelor: Officer and a Gentleman. Baldwin's
proposal to Horst and her acceptance of it marked the first time in
four seasons and only the second in its last seven editions that
The Bachelor ended with its bachelor proposing to his final
bachelorette. . . . .
RELATED SITE: The
Bachelor: An Officer and a Gentleman ABC
TV- Shows
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- ABC to premiere new 'Ex-Wives Club'
reality series on May 28
RealityWorld, By Christopher Rocchio, May 21,
2007
ABC has
announced that it will premiere Ex-Wives Club, a new reality series
that will help recent divorcees rid themselves of everything
reminiscent of their former significant other in an effort to move
forward with their lives, on Monday, May 28 at 9PM ET/PT. Each
one-hour episode of Ex-Wives Club will feature one man and one
woman, with the only commonality being that each recently went
through a difficult divorce, although not from one another. . . .
.The five-episode series is hosted by three women who, according to
ABC, "know all about breaking up" -- Angie Everhart,
Shar Jackson and Marla Maples. Everhart, a model and actress, is no
stranger reality TV. In addition to participating in the
second season of TBS' The Real Gilligan's Island reality show,
Everhart, the former wife of Ashley Hamilton, also served as the
secret saboteur of ABC's Celebrity Mole Yucatan. Jackson, an
actress who is also working on her debut solo album, is the former
Mrs. Kevin Federline. Maples is the former wife of The
Apprentice star Donald Trump. . . .
RELATED ARTICLE: The
nightmare of marrying a man with a bitter ex wife: Join The Second
Wives Club The Daily Mail- UK, By DIANA APPLEYARD, May 11,
2007
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- The Girls Next Door are anything
but reality! Crosswalk.com, By David Burchett, May 21, 2007
. . .
I rarely open the regret lock-box these days. But a recent news
story about a reality TV show on the E! Network sent me there. The
show is called the Girls Next Door and the premise is to look
inside life at the Playboy mansion. Another sign of the apocalypse
is that this is the third season of this show. I was blissfully
unaware of the show until just recently. Here is why I opened the
regret box. I am unlocking a personal regret to plead with any
young man who might read this to not get hooked by the “playboy”
lure. I did. I regret that. I used to read (?) the magazine on a
regular basis when I was single. It is easy to rationalize that
Playboy is “classier” than other men’s magazines. . . . Playboy may
not be as graphic as other magazines. But it is just as insidious
in creating an unrealistic expectation for men. Reality is not
perfect bodies and insatiable sexual appetites. I wrote an article
defending Baylor University for not allowing students to pose in
the magazine. Here is a snippet of that post.
I have “read” the magazine. I do know why men read the
magazine. Incredibly, it is not for the articles! Any many who
tries to rationalize that is disingenous at best and a liar at
worst. . . .
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RELATED
ARTICLE: Not-so-naked truth: Indonesian Playboy's
lingerie-clad freedom fighters strike a blow for T&A over
Muslim hard-liners Chicago Sun Times, BY ANDREW HERRMANN AND RUMMANA
HUSSAIN, April 6, 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: Husbands and
Wife CBS4.com, By Ileana Varela November 15,
2006
RELATED
ARTICLE: Polyamory: A Twist On Polygamy
KUTV.com- Salt Lake City, Mark Koelbel reporting, April 30,
2006
RELATED ARTICLE: Pandora and
Polygamy The Washington Post- By Charles
Krauthammer, March 17, 2006
RELATED
ARTICLE: Fanatical Swedish Feminists National Review Online, By Stanley
Kurtz, February 22, 2006
RELATED
ARTICLE: The New Monogamy: Until death do us part—except every
other Friday New York magazine, By Em & Lo,
2005
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- USA's new 'Starter Wife' pokes fun at
Hollywood divorce Jackson Clarion Ledger, MS, By
Mike Hughes, May 19, 2007
It's time now for Hollywood to do what it's good at
- making fun of itself. That's The Starter Wife, a six-hour cable
miniseries. Alongside the beauty and glamour are layers of satire.
Deborah Messing, who stars, says that's what drew her to the script
about a woman who marries a Hollywood insider, only to be dumped
and suddenly find herself on the outside looking in. "The comedy
was subversive, a little perverse, a little mocking of the
Hollywood culture." That can be expected when adapting a Gigi
Levangie Grazer novel. . . . Co-starring is Joe Mantegna, a Chicago
guy who says he stays distant from the Hollywood life. "Starter and
'trophy' (wife) were never (words) I used," Mantegna says "I've
been on my starter wife for 32 years." . . . .
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RELATED
ARTICLE: USA
shows love for 'Wife'
Variety magazine, By John Dempsey, May 7,
2007
RELATED
ARTICLE: Questions Couples Should Ask (Or Wish They Had) Before
Marrying The
New York Times (Free Online Subscription), December 17, 2006
RELATED
ARTICLE: Marriage Is Not Built on Surprises The
New York Times (Free Online Subscription), By Eric V. Copage,
December 17, 2006
RELATED ARTICLE: Postnuptial depression: from white to
blue The Independent- UK, By Maxine Frith, August 29,
2006
RELATED
ARTICLE: For 'better' marriage, deal with its
'worse' Arizona
Republic- AZ, By Lauri Githens, Aug 10,
2005
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- Signs He'll Be Good in Bed, Wow Your Folks and
More! ivillage, By Sherry Amatenstein
. . . . You don't need to read tea leaves or see a
psychic to gauge whether Mr. Looks Promising is a dream come true.
According to author Howard Schiffer (HeartfulLoving.com), first
impressions offer ample information. "If you're watching for the
signs, you'll find out a lot right away. Will he be a good kisser
or should you give him the kiss-off? All you need to do is pay
attention." Your gut always knows which way to go -- it's ignoring
the truth you feel deep down that can get you into trouble. . . .
Body Language Leads: He may say one thing, but if his eyes or
actions say another, don't disregard that disconnect. Laurie
Bernstein, a 28-year-old physical therapist from New York City
offers a cautionary tale. . . . Want more eye-opening truths to
help you discern whether a new guy is worth your while? Caroline
Presno, psychotherapist and author of Profiling Your Date: A
Smart Woman's Guide to Evaluating a Man, says, "When he talks
about his history, can he meet your eyes? If not, he might be
lying. And be wary if he smiles with his lips and not with his
eyes," . . . .
RELATED
ARTICLE: Body
Language: 10 Celeb Couples
Decoded ivillage, By Tracey Cox
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Do men cheat
for the thrill? Or the sex?
If your partner has an affair, that doesn’t mean the
end of your relationship MSNBC.com, Dr. Gail Saltz, May 15,
2007When men have affairs,
they tend to be motivated by sex — new sex, more sex, different
sex. Women cheat for many reasons: companionship, romance, more
security, and, of course, sex. But are men’s motivations really
that simple? No. Even for men, cheating is far more complex.
Studies show most men who cheat want to experiment sexually and
experience the rush associated with “new sex.” This is their way of
prolonging indefinitely the early and intoxicating phase of
infatuation in a relationship. But men also have affairs to either
avoid intimacy, recover their lost youth, or escape an unhappy
marriage. . . Adultery need not be the end of a marriage, though it
certainly is one heck of a wake up call. If you are contemplating
an affair, then there is no question you will be SORRY! Affairs
hurt everyone, including you. You cannot keep both women, so you
will be distressed at some point. Don’t leave yourself in
susceptible situations, such as when alcohol is
involved. How to save your marriage: . . . .
For the cheater: . . . For the betrayed: . . .
. Women can be cheaters too. Men have not cornered the market
when it comes to philandering. Women tend to be motivated to cheat
by more emotional factors than men. . .
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- Dr. Phil Was Once My Guilty
Pleasure, But He's Lost Me and His Moral
Ground AlterNet, By Elaine Corden, The Tyee, May 15,
2007.
If there is any guilty
pleasure more delightfully mundane than the double-dip of playing
hooky from work and taking in an afternoon episode of Dr. Phil, I
have yet to discover it. Truly, the man is all things too all
people -- broad shouldered and overtly manly, charmingly southern
yet somehow affably patrician, shockingly blunt yet delightfully
helpful. Yes, the "tell-it-like-it-is," "get real" Doc is my
favourite talking head, dropped in our living rooms by the golden
talons of Oprah herself, his ring of receding hair a crown
signifying both wisdom and omnipotence. . . . It would seem this
doctor who earned a nation's trust with honesty and pragmatism has
waded hip-deep into the mire of exploitation, and has become, in
some ways, a symbol of the entire authoritative structure of
Dubya-era America -- laying claim to righteousness without any
demonstrated authority to do so. . . . .
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- 1.5 Million
Italians Turn Out in Massive Rome Protest Against Homosexual Civil
Unions- Organizers Were Expecting Only
100,000 Lifesite News, By Gudrun Schultz, LifeSiteNews.com, May
14, 2007
- Italians from across the country poured into Rome
May 12 to join in a demonstration against a law that would give
legal recognition to homosexual couples--reports showed up to 1.7
million people overflowed the St. John Lateran piazza. Organizers
initially expected to draw about 100,000. The proposed legislation
would give homosexual couples--and unmarried heterosexual
couples--similar rights to those of married couples, stopping just
short of legalizing homosexual marriage. . . . . "The
importance of this event is not merely that when left to their own
devices the Italian people will support traditional values in great
numbers, giving the lie to the script presented by the
intellectuals in the press. It also means in concrete terms that
the traditional values laity can organize and achieve results.""The
success of "Family Day" also highlights a now deeply entrenched
trend not only in Italy, but in the West: the marginalization of
the Church from the public square," Fr. Zuhlsdorf said. "Nearly
everywhere the Church's is being denied its right to speak freely.
Committed Catholic and other religious politicians and public
figures and are pressured never to make reference to their
religious convictions. The constant mantra is that religion should
be a purely private matter than has no influence on public policy.
Be religious, fine. But you may never act outwardly on your
interior opinions.". .
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- GRRR! Joey Buttafuoco and Amy Fisher's Reality
Show FOX NEWS, By Mike Straka, May 14, 2007
It's like deja vu all over
again. The world's first reality TV couple, "Long Island
Lolita" Amy Fisher and the seriously questionable object of her
desire, Joey Buttafuoco, captivated America with their sordid tale
of statutory rape and attempted murder in the early 1990s. It
was "Blind Date" (teenage Amy meets middle-age Joey) meets "The
Bachelor" (Joey promises to love her forever) meets "Survivor"
(Joey's wife Mary Jo lives after being shot in the face by
Amy). Talk about a match made in hell. . . . . I can't
even believe I'm writing a column about these two losers. No, Amy
Fisher and Joey Buttafuoco will not have their own reality show.
Britney Spears and Kevin Federline's didn't survive a full season;
I can't imagine this one would go beyond the pilot episode.
Besides, what with so many shock-and-awe type shows already come
and gone, like "Jackass," "Fear Factor" and countless others, even
shooting each other in the face on their third date won't do
anything to boost the ratings on this dud. There's nothing left to
shock us. . . .
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RELATED
ARTICLE: GRRR!
Buttafuoco-Fisher Producer Another Hollywood Role
Model FOX
NEWS, By Mike Straka, May 21, 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: Fisher
and Buttafuoco dating The Daily Telegraph, May 21, 2007 RELATED ARTICLE &
PHOTOS: Joey
and Amy Get Mushy. Talk of Marriage & Giggle: 'WE'RE
FUN!' NY
Post, By Cathy Burke, May 20, 2007 RELATED ARTICLE &
PHOTOS: KI$$
OFF, JOEY. LECHER LOOKING TO CASH IN: MARY
JO NY Post,
By Chuck Bennett, May 18, 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: Amy & Joey Set Date For Love: Will Wine &
Dine in Tryst Overlooking Central Park NY
Post, By James Fanelli and David K. Li, May 13, 2007
RELATED
ARTICLE: I'd Do
Anything for You, or to You:They Clicked, Then She
Snapped Washington Post, By Jennifer Frey, February 13, 2007
RELATED ARTICLE: Marriage problem? Yes, but it's not same-sex
unions The Hook, By John W. Whitehead (Rutherford Institute),
June 22, 2006
RELATED
ARTICLE: Face
it: Marriage is in trouble Townhall.com- By Mike
Gallagher, June 2, 2006
RELATED
ARTICLE: Mary Kay's crime pays Townhall.com, By Brent
Bozell, May 27, 2006
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- Unwed
births for cohabiting couples on the
rise Washington
Times, By Cheryl Wetzstein, May 14, 2007
The number of children
born to parents who are unmarried but cohabiting is at a record
level, says a study released today by a nonprofit research group.
About one-third of all U.S. births in 2001 were out of wedlock,
Child Trends researchers said in their new paper. Upon closer
examination of National Center for Education Statistics data on
more than 10,000 children and their parents, researchers found that
more than half the children who were born outside marriage had both
parents in the home. This marks a significant change in
childbearing patterns: In the early 1980s, only about 30 percent of
unwed births were to cohabiting couples. In the early 1990s, this
jumped to about 40 percent, and in 2001, it reached 52 percent.
. . . ."The good news," said Jennifer Manlove, one of the
authors of the Child Trends paper, is that more than half of
children born to unwed parents are starting their lives with both
of their biological parents. This also means that, in general,
these children are better off economically than children born into
single-mother households, she noted. "The bad news," she
said, is that
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