SocietyWatch
Dolls with fangs
Goth Barbie is now the best-selling doll in the world, after Barbie. The dolls of Monster High, made by Mattel, the world’s biggest toy company, are bone-thin “beauties” all related to famous monsters freaks. Two of the biggest hits are Snow White zombie and the Little Mermaid zombie. The dolls, designed for girls ages 6 to 12, celebrate our “freaky flaws,” says Cathy Cline, marketing director for Mattel’s girls’ brands. Monster High is one of the fastest-growing brands within the entire toy industry. Mattel says girls today are more into dark fashion—fishnets and fangs—than traditional Barbie.
Most British children born out of wedlock
Fifty-four percent of children born to British-born mothers in 2012 were born to unmarried parents, according to Britain’s Office of National Statistics. Overall, 47.5 percent of children born last year were born out of wedlock. The only reason a majority of children were born to married parents is that immigrant mothers are far likelier to be married. Britain’s families have declined to the point that Britain is a world leader in broken homes.
Homosexual foreign policy
Beyond supporting homosexuality in America, the Obama administration has worked to promote homosexuality around the world. In June 2011, the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan held its first-ever Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender “pride celebration.” Since then, the U.S. government has worked to promote homosexual rights elsewhere, making history in different nations, especially within Africa, which is largely against homosexual “marriage.” In June 2012, the first-ever “gay pride” event in Kenya was held at the U.S. Embassy. In June this year, a similar event took place at the U.S. Embassy in the Ivory Coast—also the first time a “gay pride” event had been held in that nation. During his trip to Africa the same month, President Barack Obama pushed for Senegal to loosen its restrictions on same-sex “marriage.”
Morning-after pills for all
The Obama administration announced June 10 it will allow the morning-after pill Plan B One-Step to be sold to girls and women of all ages without prescription or proof of identity. It was appealing a district court ruling that made the pill available to females age 15 and up without prescription, but then dropped the appeal. Women’s rights groups hail the move as “a huge breakthrough” in the fight for women’s health and equality. The decision, however, shows contempt for parental rights, limits parental influence in children’s lives, and makes a pill widely accessible that is a potential form of abortion—which is murder.
Sequester to shrink U.S. Army
On June 25, the Army announced it would cut the number of combat brigades from 45 to 33 by 2017 to meet budget-cutting goals. Army officials said one brigade would be cut from 10 bases across the U.S., along with two brigades in Germany. With this round of cuts, the Army is essentially trimming the fat of its forces: The 80,000 troops to be let go are largely from support or administrative units; Army combat units will be largely unaffected. However, if automatic budget reductions take effect next year, the Army warned that another 100,000 soldiers or more could be cut either from active duty, the National Guard or Army Reserve. This would cut deep into America’s military muscle.
Multiplying Mr. Moms
The number of American dads who remain home to care for children while mothers work full-time has doubled since 2001. Today, 3.5 percent of men stay home to care for the children. One reason is finances: Women are obtaining more college degrees than men, and about 28 percent of married mothers in the U.S. now make more money than their husbands. This represents an inversion of the biblically proscribed roles of man as provider and woman as homemaker.
