As I read the section of the
state gender bias reports dealing with divorce and alimony,
something that kept sticking out at me was the opinion of the
researchers that "homemaker" was the equivalent of a career choice
for women.
Instead of having a normal career
of her own, she "chose" the role of homemaker and so should be
perpetually compensated for that.
I have never had a job where when
I left it my employer was required to continue supporting me forever
as they did when I worked for them.
Comparatively, there are many
jobs I have had that were NOT an enhancement to my
career and in fact hurt my career. But I stayed in them because of
the marital circumstances I was in. My wife adamantly refused to
move or have a career of her own forcing me to harm MY
career potential. I did not finish college because I had to work 6
and 7 days a week to get ahead. If I had chosen to add the burden of
college to my plate, the extra effort would have been viewed by the
state as a contribution and sacrifice by her to me to my
own detriment. Now she is rewarded for her choices and I am
punished for mine because she now posses the marital property I paid
for from all that work so that her lifestyle during the
marriage could be maintained. However, my lifestyle of free choice
has been taken away in order to satisfy hers.
These studies attempt to come to
blanket conclusions about marital roles and relationships and as a
result become gender biased themselves. This is because what is left
out of the study is the personal intimate relationship between the
couple. You will note in the Georgia study that it is all about the
"woman" and what happens to her during and after divorce - because
of her freedom of choice and the choices she made. Rarely , if at
all, in these studies do you see presented the negative impact on a
man's life for being "forced" into the role of
"breadwinner" because his wife chose
"homemaker." This further contributes to
the gender bias toward men inherent in these studies and the system
constructed from their data.
Hence, this is our argument and
our position, that the state does not belong in this area of our
lives because you cannot have blanket laws based on studies that are
not fair to the intimacies of people's relationships. Thousands of
words are spoken between couples during their marriage and thousands
of arguments, discussions, and choices, as well as the effects of
the personalities of each. None of this is considered when analyzing
their apparent roles in the marriage. The state nor any judge cannot
possibly dispense equity in divorce without knowing all these
intimate details nor possibly enact legislation that fairly treats
it. The very best they can do "in equity" is to split the marital
assets and allow each to go their separate way to make further free
choices as free people about how they want to live their lives.
As a result the state has put
itself in the position of abandoning it's pledge to protect the
constitutional rights of both men and woman with any legislation
they enact and instead treat them differently based on the private
choices they made in their marriages. State divorce and alimony laws
become inherently gender biased without even using the words "man"
or "woman" because they seek to compensate and punish based marital
privacy and intimacy.
Therefore, whether you are
happily married or otherwise, we need your support to help us remove
the meddling state governments from our private lives.
Robert Sell
Chairman
Citizens For Liberty And Privacy.
