![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elfsMargaret Talbot looks past the numbers on why teenage pregnancy is more common among self-identifying "conservative" families than "liberal ones," and concludes:
One thing that Talbot doesn't concentrate on, to the article's weakness, is the way liberal's don't have a "forgiveness" meme as powerful as the redemptive memes of conservatism, and the way liberals don't automatically and cultural value "unwanted" children, whereas the primitive, muscular conservatism of which Sarah Palin was postergirl views any child as an automatic blessing.
One thing that doesn't jibe at all, though, is that the majority of evangelicals don't believe sex will be pleasurable-- so why do they do it at all? Why do they have the earliest "sexual debuts," and the highest rates of sexual activity? In contrast, Jewish teenagers are the most likely to believe sex will be pleasureable-- and yet they have the lowest rates of teenage sexual activity and very late sexual debuts.
Article: Red Sex, Blue Sex
The "pro-family" efforts of social conservatives–the campaigns against gay marriage and abortion–do nothing to instill the emotional discipline or the psychological smarts that forsaking all others often involves. Evangelicals are very good at articulating their sexual ideals, but they have little practical advice for their young followers. Social liberals, meanwhile, are not very good at articulating values on marriage and teen sexuality–indeed, they may feel that it's unseemly or judgmental to do so. But in fact the new middle-class morality is squarely pro-family. Maybe these choices weren't originally about values–maybe they were about maximizing education and careers–yet the result is a more stable family system. Not only do couples who marry later stay married longer; children born to older couples fare better on a variety of measures, including educational attainment, regardless of their parents' economic circumstances. The new middle-class culture of intensive parenting has ridiculous aspects, but it's pretty successful at turning out productive, emotionally resilient young adults. And its intensity may be one reason that teen-agers from close families see child-rearing as a project for which they're not yet ready. For too long, the conventional wisdom has been that social conservatives are the upholders of family values, whereas liberals are the proponents of a polymorphous selfishness. This isn't true, and, every once in a while, liberals might point that out.The meta is that conservatives focus on sexual issues, which bring them to the forefront of teenager's thoughts, whereas liberals focus on personal issues, and give teenagers reasons to avoid sex-- and risky sex, should they have it-- that are immediate and attention-getting.
One thing that Talbot doesn't concentrate on, to the article's weakness, is the way liberal's don't have a "forgiveness" meme as powerful as the redemptive memes of conservatism, and the way liberals don't automatically and cultural value "unwanted" children, whereas the primitive, muscular conservatism of which Sarah Palin was postergirl views any child as an automatic blessing.
One thing that doesn't jibe at all, though, is that the majority of evangelicals don't believe sex will be pleasurable-- so why do they do it at all? Why do they have the earliest "sexual debuts," and the highest rates of sexual activity? In contrast, Jewish teenagers are the most likely to believe sex will be pleasureable-- and yet they have the lowest rates of teenage sexual activity and very late sexual debuts.
Article: Red Sex, Blue Sex
