I would have made a great housewife in the 1950s.
Except for the ironing. I hate ironing. The only chore I flat out refuse to do.
I worked on an older client the other day. She had a large family. She was going on about people nowadays and how they only have two kids.
Do you know what she thought about that? She thought that they were being selfish! And unwilling to sacrifice their time and energy for their family!
I think it has a lot more to do with wanting to be able to afford a decent standard of living.
She was a housewife her whole life and was going on about women these days who don't stay home with the kids. How they all want to be out in the workforce, letting someone else raise their kids.
I'm sure many women DO want to be in the workforce. But for the majority of Americans it isn't a CHOICE.
I, personally, 100% want to stay home and look after my kids until they are at least five. And you know what?
Men don't like that. Men don't like being the sole bread winner. Even those who can afford to do so. Why has that changed?
(and I definitely know of some guys who are the sole bread winner and who are awesome so I am not lumping them in with this, but again, it is my blog and I can generalize all I want to!)
Was it because of the feminist movement?
How did we change from women being ABLE to join the work force to women HAVING to join the work force?
I enjoy working, most days anyways. I'm not complaining about working. I'm just saying that my biological urges are for me to stay at home and raise my young. I do not have a single biological urge making me want to go out and succeed in the business world and make lots of money. But isn't that what makes us humans "better" than the other animals- we can overcome our biological urges?
It's sort of a moot point, seeing as how I am not even dating anyone and thus will not be having babies and be stopping working anytime soon, but it popped into my brain and there you have it.
Okay, I'll be honest, after further retrospection, I don't think I would have REALLY been happy as a 50s housewife. The monotony and lack of intellectual stimulation would have driven me to gather up a gang of my fellow housewives and start a feminist movement!
ReplyDeleteSometimes I wonder if I hijacked your blog and secretly posted something. My mil told me about the feminist movement and how so many women were trapped in abusive, icky marriages because they had no skills. But I think what happened is that then we became accustomed to a particular way of life. Just like how some people "NEED" (GAG!) alimony after a divorce for their "upkeep". *eyeroll*- suddenly we have kids but we don't want to give up anything we have or how we are living.
ReplyDeleteI was blessed to work from home for 7 years. And still blessed, I supose, by getting to be with them 3/7 days a week but I miss my babies and I want to be here with them more than in the office. Let's see if we can't make that happen by the end of the summer. :) Thanks for another good read!