April 26, 2012
Homemakers in an Age of Feminist Mystique
Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen hit close to many American homes with her comment that Ann Romney, stay-at-home mother of five boys, "had never worked a day in her life."
The broadside didn't just hit a presidential candidate's wife but also a wide swath of Middle America moms.
It turns out the typical stay-at-home mom doesn't live next door to the "Desperate Housewives" in a four-bedroom house on Wisteria Lane. Instead, as The New York Times reported after the Rosen-Romney dust-up, 65% of stay-at-home, married mothers of children under 18 live in a household with an annual income below $75,000.
Rosen apologized, saying she valued all women's work. Trouble is, her comments fit a longtime pattern of statements by liberal feminists that seem to diminish the decision not to work outside the home.
On the campaign trail for her husband in 1992, Hillary Clinton defended her own choice to pursue a law career by disparaging what others opted to do. "I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas, but what I decided to do was to fulfill my profession," she told reporters.
Clinton's condescension was only a faint echo of the brutal comments made by feminist matriarch Betty Friedan in her 1963 book The Feminine Mystique.
"I am convinced there is something about the housewife state itself that is dangerous," wrote Friedan, describing the homemaker as consigned to "a comfortable concentration camp."
Friedan used the term "feminine mystique" to refer to "certain concrete, finite, domestic aspects of feminine existence" made "into a religion, a pattern by which all women must now live or deny their femininity."
Since Friedan's day, the demographics have changed dramatically. By 1982, women had outstripped men in the number of bachelor's degrees earned each year; by 1986, the same was true for master's degrees. In 1995, more women in the workforce had bachelor's degrees than men.
About 70% of married mothers with children under 18 were in the labor force as of 2010, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
"Within a generation, more households will be supported by women than by men," bestselling author and Washington Post reporter Liza Mundy predicts with praise in her new book The Richer Sex: How the New Majority of Female Breadwinners Is Transforming Sex, Love and Family.
Not all women will reach the same conclusion.
For decades, nearly all young women consistently have said marriage and motherhood are important to their future happiness. Strong majorities also look forward to working.
When they grow up to be mothers, juggling home and workplace responsibilities, many wish they could tilt their timesheet ratio more toward home. In fact, nearly 70% of full-time working mothers of children under 18 said they'd prefer to work part time or not at all, according to a 2007 report from Pew Research Center.
Feminists claim to support a woman's individual choice when it comes to the balance of work and family life. But episodes such as the Rosen flap don't reveal respectful regard for all women's choices in this arena. Read and Share the full article >> What are your thoughts? Provide your perspective on our blog >>  | |
 | Intimate Partner Violence Has Decreased Since Early 1990s 
Since the early-1990s, the overall rate of intimate-partner violence has dropped by three-fifths. For female victims the rate declined by two-thirds and for male victims by more than two-fifths. Find out more about how an intact, married family can reduce violent behavior at FamilyFacts.org! | | |  | | | |  | DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society at The Heritage Foundation Founded in 1973, The Heritage Foundation is the nation’s most broadly supported public policy organization. Heritage established the DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society in 2004 to educate government officials, the media and the public about the role religion, family, and civil society play in sustaining freedom and the common good. | |
The Heritage Foundation | 214 Massachusetts Ave NE, Washington, DC 20002 | 202.546.4400 | heritage.org
|
No comments:
Post a Comment