Wealthy middle aged men are partially responsible for high divorce rates because of their 'me' attitudes. According to Tom Wolfe, 'wife shucking' became 'normal behavior' during the 70s. When famous men left their wives for younger women, (e.g. Eugene McCarthy) it went largely unnoticed. This behavior contributed to high divorce rates.
Feminists who fought for no-fault divorce are partially responsible for the high divorce rate. According to Schweikart, feminists gave men 'a remarkable gift, pushing as they had for no-fault divorce', leading to new laws that allowed easy, 'inexpensive divorces'. This contributed to skyrocketing divorce rates, with 1.1 million in 1979.
Popular 70s TV shows show that society was changing and therefore feminists didn't have to push for no-fault divorce, which contributed to high divorce rates. In All In The Family, Gloria is portrayed as an educated, liberal woman with a job, and refutes her conservative father's sexist protests with "times have changed." This indicates that attitudes towards women in the 70s were already changing, making new divorce laws unnecessary.
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