Trying to build understanding of conservative views on gender roles

New Study Helps Explain Why Hobby Lobby Supporters Are So Fiercely Opposed To Birth Control (Click here to read more)

By Tara Culp-Ressler
July 9, 2014 at 9:10 am Updated: July 9, 2014 at 9:12 am
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Throughout the ongoing debate over Obamacare's contraceptive coverage requirement, a common theme has emerged among many of Hobby Lobby's supporters: the idea that ensuring access to affordable birth control is harmful to society because it leads to promiscuity and infidelity. Several right-wing groups filed amicus briefs in favor of the crafts chain arguing that women simply shouldn't be having consequence-free sex. But where exactly does this idea come from? One research paper offers a theory.
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According to new research published in Archives of Sexual Behavior, the attitude that women shouldn't be having sex can at least partly be traced back to the idea that women are supposed to be economically dependent on men. The researchers suggest that this link may drive conservative religious communities' insistence on sexual purity.
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After surveying Americans about their attitudes toward promiscuity - asking them whether they agreed with statements like "It is fine for a woman to have sex with a man she has just met, if they both want to" - the researchers also asked them whether they believed women tend to rely on income from their male partner. They found that the people who believe that casual sex is wrong also tend to believe that women need a partner to support them financially. Within that worldview, sex outside of a serious monogamous relationship is simply too risky. If women don't have "paternity certainty," then how will they know who they need to rely on to support them and their future child?
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