Jennifer Aniston is starring in a movie about artificial insemination, and is touting the wonders of single motherhood. Although it is a fairly common practice for older, unattached professional women who are having a hard time finding a mate, Aniston publicly voiced the main justification these women have been using for years: fathers are unnecessary.
Older single women are prone to making these statements from time to time, so it isn’t all that surprising to hear it from Jennifer Aniston. But ever since the Dan Quayle/Murphy Brown controversy back in ’92, in which Dan Quayle, in a speech, criticized TV character Murphy Brown about her decision to have a child out of wedlock, few have dared criticize single motherhood. I can remember the widespread derision of Quayle for daring to suggest that the progressive trend of mothers cavalierly chucking fathers out of their children’s lives was anything but a sacred right, immune from criticism. Ironically, Candice Bergen, the actress who played Murphy Brown, said “I never have really said much about the whole episode, which was endless, but his speech was a perfectly intelligent speech about fathers not being dispensable and nobody agreed with that more than I did.”
Nevertheless, Quayle wasn’t even supported by his boss, George HW Bush, and the White House press secretary hemmed and hawed about what the Vice President meant. In short, the feminists scored a big victory and dominated the ensuing debate, successfully portraying Quayle as an out-of-touch moron for holding such outdated views. Hillary Clinton, lest anyone be tempted to defend the woman, came down squarely in the “men are unnecessary” camp, and took advantage of the situation to denounce Quayle.
However, it seems the debate has been rekindled. Bill O’Reilly, more showman than reporter, has a pretty good sense of public opinion, and he wouldn’t broach a topic if he didn’t think it had some resonance with the public. Remarkably, O’Reilly came at the subject from a decidedly pro-fathers’ rights angle, saying that fathers are not only very important to children, but are treated unfairly in general as well:
“Aniston can hire a battery of people to help her, but she cannot hire a dad, OK? And Dads bring a psychology to children that is, in this society, I believe, under-emphasized. I think men get hosed all day long in the parental arena.”
Some of the pundits must be getting the sense that public opinion is starting to turn against feminist ideology, and are openly challenging their dominance where family issues are concerned. Yes, things are starting to change, and feminists are losing the last shreds of moral credit they built up by demonizing men over the years. It may take a few years, but I believe they will be discredited in our lifetimes, and possibly within the decade.
In other news, the Onion came out with an amusing video panning Aniston and other celebrity women for their exotic adoptions:
