Forward into the past...

Yet again there is more and more press about the plight of women in Afghanistan. There is the unspoken assumption that they deserve special treatment just because they are women. That's a very 19th century attitude, which I don't really have a problem with, at least as long as that attitude applies across the board. If we are going to insist on some of the older gender roles, like that of men protecting women, I'm going to insist on the other roles, like women being wives and mothers.

Is this likely to happen? Not a chance. Besides the feminist opposition, there's also that massive drop in consumption that would result in there being fewer total households. I don't think the Powers That Be would ever accept that happening. Politicians and economists would scream about the loss of GDP, even when the average quality of life is improving. Even worse, if we managed to go back to the 19th century values of having extended families, consumption would drop even more. In addition, this sort of return to older values would reduce te need for government assistance. Given that government agencies areloathe to give up any funding or power, there is another opponent to older social structures.