TARANTO: “The War on Fertility” (Wall Street Journal, US)

Rush Limbaugh’s recent remarks have stirred much controversy, followed by the usual analysis from talking heads in the media.  James Taranto of the WSJ details his own view, as an implicit defence of Rush’s key argument and the position of conservatives opposed to contraception.

Speaking rather authoritatively on what feminism is, despite not having any background or knowledge of it, Taranto turns the tables and argues that women, liberals, and feminists are waging a war on the religious right to fertility.  Anecdotal evidence provided in his article seem to point to a grand conspiracy to undermine the choices of Romney, Santorum, Palin, etc to have large families.

To be fair, Taranto speaks to an audience not easily swayed by social conservatism: WSJ readers tend to be educated, upper-middle class white men who don’t have much interest in the Culture Wars aside from the easy dinner conversation they make.  Therefore his argument has to be tailored to a critique of the feminist movement, which in fact has much greater input beyond the sexual-rights debate (such as female representation in business, for example).  Thus it is a fair attempt to try and provoke thinking on a very contemporary and highly debatable subject material.

(Article available here)