A New Women’s Movement

Recently I’ve come to realize a need for a new kind of women’s movement – one that doesn’t have us in denial about who we are but accepts it with pride and appreciation. Common topics among today’s professional women are being treated equally in the work place, climbing the corporate ladder to obtain those male dominated positions and of course, equal pay.

Several weeks ago I received an emailed copy of an article from the Good Housekeeping May 13, 1955 edition titled “The Good Wife’s Guide.” Certain statements were underlined to focus our attention and perhaps incite protest.

“Catering for his comfort will provide you with immense personal satisfaction.” “Remember, his topics of conversation are more important than yours.” “A good wife always knows her place.”

Now, without a proper understanding, and might I add attitude, one could definitely get upset at such statements. But think about it, when we consider what love and marriage is all about, doesn’t that mean putting the other person first? Isn’t that all those statements amount to? I’m not sure what the original intent was, but bottom line when we look at them objectively, they’re right on. If someone wrote an article today on how to be a good husband and similar statements were made for him, it would receive accolades. Hold on, ladies, it works both ways. We have to be loving and considerate too.

There was also a part in the Good Housekeeping article on making the house and children look nice and neat before the husband comes home in the evening. I found that to be humorous and expect a lot of women who read the article in 1955 did as well. Some times we take things too seriously.

Moving on, a lot of supposedly intelligent people spend lots of somebody’s money researching the gender gap and trying to figure out the solution to achieving complete and total equality across the board. That’s one of the stupidest wastes of time and money I can think of. There will always be differences between the sexes. We look differently. We have different chemical make-ups. And for the most part, we have different desires and inclinations. A recent study even showed that while men and women use the internet about the same amount of time, they use it for different things. The funny part is the research was presented as a negative thing. What difference does it make if men use the internet for sports, news and music downloads while women use it for email, and religious and health info?

A new study also shows that 57% of college students are female, meaning fewer men are attending college. Is some major movement being enacted on men’s behalf to get them back into higher education?

I’ve never really understood the women’s movement that began several decades ago, but I’m beginning to think it isn’t about equality but about control instead. Why do women want to be like men? Is it because the man has historically been seen as “in charge,” and women want to be the ones in control?

Sadly, many innocent women follow along with the “movement” because the women on the front lines have dominant, controlling personalities, and they say we are supposed to be equal. That we shouldn’t even think about leaving the workforce to raise our babies. We should strive for work/life balance instead. Are we to “progress” at the expense of our husbands and children?

It’s time women stop denying who we are. We need a women’s movement that encourages and supports us to be what we want to be deep down inside, not one that pushes us to be what others think we should be. This doesn’t mean women can’t work, or be CEOs or even President, but women were designed to play certain roles at home and in society as were men. We need to realize what a wonderful role that is and embrace it. How much happier and fulfilled we would all be if women (and men) catered to the comforts of their family and considered the other more than themselves.