Juliet Samuel on talking about families…

“… speakers at last week’s National Conservatism conference were widely mocked for talking about marriage and family, on the grounds that this might exclude or shame single mothers. Even if one assumes the existence of non-nuclear families precludes talking about the benefits of conventional ones, which it shouldn’t, this misses the point. The problem isn’t single mothers; it’s men who abandon or abuse them. When some on the right talk of “bringing back shame” to contain human excess, they should be careful to make sure it is deadbeat males who are the target, not the women.”