The emancipated woman

-
WARNING! This may seem preachy...
Tonight when we were out at dinner I overheard a woman talking to what I assume are her parents about a class she is taking. She was saying that they read from an old book about what a wife should do for her husband when he gets home: tie a ribbon in your hair, turn down household noises, make the house comfortable because he probably had a harder day then you, etc. All those typical 1950s sitcom housewifey things. She was laughing because when the teacher asked the class if they wanted to be that kind of wife only 1 person raised their hand.
It just made me wonder...at what point did we, as women, decide that we couldn't play the role of the housewife? What's so wrong with it? By no means am I the perfect housewife, far from it. I'm pretty lazy on the whole. I expect (and like it) Eric to do the dishes. I am really bad at laundry. I don't like cooking. However, I love being at home when my son is done with school. I love putting my daughter for a nap. I love being here when Eric gets home with nothing to tell him except that it was a normal/fussy/crazy day. I love that Eric plays with the kids and helps around the house with some stuff. But, why can't I have both? At what point did society trick women into thinking fulfillment came from paychecks and a husband who doesn't expect a little bit of pampering? Can't we be partners and still have a relationship wherein I am the WIFE and he is the HUSBAND and head of the household? It's striking the balance.
I suppose if emancipation makes you happy, then I shouldn't tell you to change. But...my mind wonders what the crime rates and divorce rates were like when wives were trying to meet the stereotype. I wonder how many kids there were without dads and how many people were living in houses two sizes too big. I wonder how many kids were obese and how many saw their mom's get hit. I'm not blaming all the maladies in society on this one thing, don't get me wrong at all. But I do wonder if putting worth back in the word wife might go a long way to righting things.
I do think a woman is every bit as capable as a man to do "stuff". Be presidents, judges, doctors, and the like. My sissy is a rocket scientist for pete's sake! I also think that being a wife, mom, and woman is something to embrace not emancipate.


Comments

Lacey said…
Well said!

I believe there is a balance and that balance is different for every family. My mom got up at 5 every morning to cook breakfast for my dad. Good for her. I tried to do that for my husband when we were first married, but soon found out he doesn't eat breakfast, so now I get some much needed sleep. Good for me.
6:35 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dear Carly,

-
Image
I assume that one day you will come to me wanting to know who you are, where you came from, where your other family is and why they gave you to us.  I offer you little bits of information already, but certainly not crumbs enough to satisfy the appetite.  Perhaps it won't matter to you.  I am assuming a lot, already, about how adoption will impact your life. People often wonder why adoptive parents are hurt when their children seek out biological roots.  I have the answer, and it's very simple.  Adoption - at its core - makes us question the legality, authority, voracity, and validity of parenthood.  For most adoptive parents, first you must come to terms with an issue that strikes at the foundations of mortality: fertility.  From birth, most of us are driven to form families.  First we are nestlings, nurtured and weened and eventually taught to fly.  Then we are nest-builders, filling our lives with the stuff necessary to drive life forwar...
Read more

M is for Mother

-
Motherhood is more than carrying a child in your womb for 9 months. Motherhood is more than daily wiping of noses, cleaning of faces, filling of bellies. Motherhood is more than driving, shopping, cleaning, cooking. Motherhood is part of being a Woman, but not all of it. It is part of growing up, for some of us. It is conducive to gaining appreciation, but not for everyone. I was still a child myself, really, when I became a Mother. Joshua and I did a lot of growing up together. We both learned a lot about sacrifice. I learned how to say good-bye to him in the morning, he learned that separation from Mother wasn't such a bad thing after all. Especially since he got to go to Grandma's house (which, sorry Disney, was the happiest place on earth). I learned I could love someone until my heart might burst and be completely enraged at the same time. He learned that the wrinkling of my forehead was not a good sign for anyone. We learned a lot about time, more specifically abo...
Read more

thirty two

-
Image
Today is the big day, the day when I roll over from 31 ( just barely old) to 32 (aka old and can't deny it) . The funny thing is, I don't feel 32. I feel just like I did at 22, just maybe a little less scared. There are a few gray hairs tucked in the brown, there are a few wrinkles under the chubbiness of my 'baby face'. I can't say that I'm feeling the aches and pains of a body weighed down by years. I don't. Except perhaps my ankles which are stiff in the mornings from my bad habit of tripping on my own feet . The march of years is fairly kind to us, I think. We feel the same though our bodies keep climbing that mortal hill. Today I'm going to celebrate being alive . I'm going to eat good food, share good company, laugh while I tickle my kids. I'm going to take a long nap (hopefully) and just be glad for one more day, one more week, one more month, one more year. Oh, and I'm going to sport this super cute and sassy hair cut curteousy of ...
Read more