I guess the problem is that yes, I do have trouble seeing the "loss of status of the archetype of 'honorable working man'" leading to an overall economic decline that means both parents have to work–why wouldn't it be balanced out by the new archetype of the "independent working woman"?

I think I'm probably running into some belief bias here–I'm having trouble evaluating your arguments because, as a woman with a fierce need for independence, who is really enjoying life in this day and age, I deeply disagree with your premise that less patriarchy is a Bad Thing.

You're probably right that it's a bad idea for some men, though. Hell, I know some of those men–friends and friends' boyfriends who are in their 20s and still live with their moms. I'm also not all that familiar, personally, with the "American inner city" that you talk about. And I have no idea how to evaluate the fact that women are apparently less happy with their marriages–but if someone did a study on it and showed a correlation, then something is going on there.

However, there's no going back at this point (or, at least, I really think there shouldn't be). Why not wait until society settles into this massive, unprecedented change and creates some new archetypes?

Sorry. I'm really trying to look at your point of view with fresh eyes. This doesn't happen to me very often, that I have such a strong (and until now unnoticed) opinion on something that I can't properly think about the opposite being true. It's a somewhat unpleasant feeling, to be honest.

But gaaaaaah, I'm so entirely grateful that I don't live in the 1950s! And that's despite the fact that I've sometimes felt like arranged marriage would be just, well, convenient–the main reason I think it would be convenient is because it would be so much less time consuming, and give me more time to do whatever the hell I want with my spare time, as opposed to spending it dating, which I find tedious.