Against Sensibilities

Meet sociologists W. Bradford Wilcox and Steven L. Nock. They are with the University of Virginia. (They were; Dr. Nock died in 2008.) And they did a study that just won't really see the light of day. You see, in 2006 they published What's Love Got to do With It? Equality, Equity, Commitment and Women’s Marital Quality in Social Forces, a highly regarded journal of sociology. Based on the National Survey of Families and Households with a sample size of more than 5,000 couples across American, they concluded some startling things.

They found that the highest determining factor for the happiness of wives is when husbands are emotionally committed to them. Well, okay, that's not news. But they specifically deny that it's shared housework or equal income. Hmm, that's new.

They found that wives are happiest when their husbands bring home 68% or more of the household income. Oh, really? That's not quite what we expected. we've been told that wives are happier in a 50-50 income home.

They found that women with husbands with a strong commitment to a lifelong marriage are happiest. Now, wait! We've just gone out of our way to redefine marriage to include the cancellation of any sort of permanence, and they're telling us that husbands devoted to permanent marriages make happier wives?

And get this:

Women who have more traditional attitudes—who believe, for instance, that women should take the lead in taking care of the home and family, and that men should take the lead in earning—are happier in their marriages, report more affection and understanding from their husbands, and spend more quality time with their husbands.

Okay, now that just won't fly. That goes against "modern sensibilities." And we know that modern sensibilities can't be wrong. So, look, we'll publish this thing in that Social Forces magazine and even on this University of Virginia website, but keep it on the down-low. Don't let it out that radical feminism may be wrong. Don't let on that women might be happier with a more traditional attitude. We'll just keep it quiet and let it go and no one will notice.

And here, 8 years later, it has mostly gone unnoticed. Someone please tell me that there is no conspiracy to deprive women of a greater happiness because it would align more with the biblical view than "modern sensibilities". Surely the world and the media are an unbiased evaluator of truth and all, right?