Penna Dexter

Remember the PBS television show Barney and Friends? It premiered in 1992 and ceased production in 2009. The title character Barney was a purple tyrannosaurus rex who conveyed optimistic and educational messages through songs and little dance routines. The show was popular during an era when it was not politically correct to elevate the nuclear family — a mom, a dad, and their biological or adopted kids —as preferable to any other type of family. The children on Barney sang of familes of different sizes and types with the refrain: "but mine's just right for me." Author and syndicated columnist Mona Charen was raising toddlers during Barney's heyday. She writes: "Barney delivered the approved, soothing propaganda." It was meant to help children of divorce feel normalized. And, she writes, adults were comforted too: "Even if your child sees his parents one at a time, everything's fine. A family is love." Mona Charen wisely points out that — actually — a family is more than just love. "It's also commitment and, yes duty. Family means assuming responsibility for others and keeping your commitments. Her new book, Sex Matters: How Modern Feminism Lost Touch with Love and Common Sense describes in detail how feminists undermined marriage, the foundation of the family and says they were "as wrong as they could be about marriage." The devastating result is that, today, 40 percent of American babies are born to single mothers. Women need marriage. Ms. Charen writes: "Far from a trap for women, marriage is an essential component of happiness." And men need marriage. Married men are better off in many ways, including financially. Married couples accumulate more wealth than never-married people do. They are healthier — physically and mentally — and more satisfied with their sex lives. They go to church more and volunteer more. Finally, the most profound truth magnified by the lies of feminism is that children need their parents to be married to each other.