Politics and Relationships

Prior to the late 1960s, politics wasn’t really a big consideration in people’s choice of partner. It was generally thought that woman were less interested in politics than men, and in any case, differences in political views were not a big deal.

Today though, people are increasingly seeking partners with similar jobs and opinions.This trend emerged began in the 1970s with fashionable magazines like London’s Time Out running singles columns for young urban liberals. Now conservatives have got in on the act with on-line dating agencies like Conservative Match - ‘sweethearts not bleeding hearts’.

One reason why politics has become more important in relationships it that women have become more educated.

When women were first given the vote, conservatives were surprised that most of them didn’t vote for socialist parties. It was assumed that women would vote with their hearts, rather than their heads, and support the left. Subsequently, conservatives were dead against universal suffrage. However, it soon became apparent that once women have families they become more conservative and vote for economic stability and pro-family policies.

Today, women are spending more time in university (soaking up politically correct ideas) and are waiting much longer to have families. The result is that many of them are becoming more liberal and less concerned with economic stability and ‘affordable family formation’.

In general, educated women are more concerned with social and environmental issues than economic issues like tax rates. This may be one of the reasons why a lot of young males are libertarians and neo-conservatives.

Males with traditional conservative views appear insensitive and unfashionable. Conversely, male libertarians and neo-conservatives, with milder views on social issues, are less likely to clash with educated liberal women. At the same time they can express their ‘manly political incorrectness’ through economic liberalism. Hence, neo-conservatives and libertarians males may think they are politically tough and unfashionable, but they are unconsciously conforming to the desires of liberal women and workplaces dominated by women.

In contrast, socially conservative males are arguably today’s true 'conservative' rebels - standing up for free speech, political integrity, and putting their jobs (and possibly sex lives) on the line.

The Iraq war however, is bad news for male neo-cons. Women hate wars and attitudes towards paleoconservatives may soften as events unfold according to their predictions.