(no subject)

[lauralh]

The lost ideal of the nuclear family has such a tight grip on the late-20th century western mind chiefly because it became, in its 1950s form, an emblem of two other ideals: the notion of romantic love as the only publicly acceptable basis for marriage, and the celebration of both child-rearing and childhood. Once again, however, for better or for worse, most people for most of the millennium did not labour under these two burdens.