I am in a state of shock. I've spent the last 10 years in the corporate world, climbing "the ladder" and have been surrounded by headstrong, smart, successful, breadwinning, independent women. I took for granted that this ideology was the "new norm" for women in this day and age, and that "housewives" were a weird 50's thing. Having been laid off a couple of months ago - I tuned into Dr. Phil's show on "Wifestyles" and was astonished, speechless and saddened by what I witnessed.
I honestly didn't think that women who believe it is their duty to clean, cook, fold laundry, babysit and in essence, live a life of subservience to kids and husband, still existed. Although from an intellectual level, I understand that people have the right to choose....from a feminist standpoint I feel betrayed by women who promote the myth that a woman's place is in the home once she marries & breeds. Ridiculous. Our mothers and grandmothers fought hard, and others of us continue to fight hard to promote the radical idea that while we are certainly very different from our male counterparts - we are people first, women second. As people, we too have dreams, ambitions, drive and intelligence that do not stop once kids are involved - nor should they. The idea that if your husband makes enough money, your job should be in the home to scrub toilets and fold laundry - is to me, arachaic, repressive and demeaning to the thousands of women who are simply too skilled to be performing entry-level "maid" tasks day in and day out.
Additionally, I was befuddled as to why a woman who doesn't work - would ever allow her husband to criticize the way she mops the floors, cooks meals, cleans toilets - as though he's her employer?.... Seriously - my resopnse would be "then do it yourself." I personally, would be out of the house so fast - getting a paid position - it would make your head spin. Let him worry about hiring a nanny, cleaning the house and fixing my meals. Take back your power. Put yourself on equal footing.
The woman who claimed that women "can't have/do it all"(career/family) - is right in a way. If you assume that childcare & housework is specifically the woman's job - then yes, she's probably correct. However, let's look at it a different way. Let's assume (I know, it's a radical thought) - that childcare, cooking, cleaning, laundry - all that fun stuff - are simply responsibilities that both men and women SHARE, leaving equal time for both to pursue the careers they (hopefully) love. I personally don't remember the last time I ever heard a man lament over the struggle to balance career & family - do you? Who ever questioned whether men "could have it all?" We don't. This is because many just assume that kids & housework are a woman's primary responsibility, and therefore there isn't much room for a career. Rubbish. Solution: Both have careers, independence, fulfillment..... both pitch in to take care of household chores at the end of the day. We as women, were not put on this earth to accept anything less than fulfilling our greatest potential. Raise the bar, stand your ground - see how high you can fly.
