Social Conservatives - NYTimes.com I can understand that the parents of daughters might wish for a more conservative "romantic culture" and oppose the mores of Nathaniel P., the young Brooklyn literary type in Adelle Waldman's novel, "The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P.," mentioned by Ross Douthat ("The Daughter Theory," column, Dec. 15). What I don't understand are social conservatives who insist that my daughter cannot marry the one she loves or that a child unlucky enough to be born poor deserves to go to bed hungry. In fact, I wonder how any parent can embrace a social conservatism that is so mean to the less powerful.