A Bloody Valentine

Kathleen Parker in her piece titled “Michelle Obama’s valentine to men” writes of the First Lady’s speech during the first night of the Democratic National Convention. A striking point brought up by Parker is that toward the end of Obama’s speech there was emphasis placed on fathers, both on her own and President Obama, essentially marginalizing those that do not fit into the traditional family frame. This point is striking because, as Parker mentioned, there has been rhetoric of promoting the exceptional when it comes to people who grew up in single-parent homes (i.e. Obama and the Castro twins). They did not fit the “traditional” families that the GOP has so pushed with the phrase “traditional family values.” But even so, the Obamas were now a traditional family.

Why is this important to recognize? I point this out to highlight the fact that the Democratic Party has more recently pushed for and endorsed marriage rights for same-sex couples. Most notably was President Obama’s personal endorsement back in May. Although it has gained much publicity, there is still a need to continue the conversation on the issue. This is because people unknowingly offend a group they have so proudly defended simply by word choice. Or even ignoring the issue has the same effect.

Parker, in her article, argues for the necessity of a mother and father in a family stating “More often, young males (and females) without fathers wind up in trouble.” While that is the case in a great deal of cases, it ignores those same-sex couples seeking equality. What happens to them? How would they respond to the Zach Wahls’s out there?

I guess we’ll have to wait and see. Until then, the “traditional” family it is. But what is truly “traditional”?

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