Replies

Women, like my mother and my office mate, were strongly discouraged from going to college or entering the workforce. Marriage and childbearing was the one and only valid choice. Of course there were lots of women who worked anyway, in lots of cases because they had to, or told everyone to go eff themselves, but it was still strongly discouraged through shaming and threats of abandonment.

I am glad to see that women are finally waking up from the misconception that they absolutely have to have a job in order to have a meaningful life. But the previous situation where women were strongly discouraged from working, or working in menial jobs until they could snag a husband, was just as bad.

We can all point to myriad exceptions where women were successful in business, in education, in the sciences, etc. during the 50's, but the vast majority who succeeded outside the home did so against a sea of opposition.

Yes women were encouraged to fill jobs normally done by men who were fighting in WWII, but they gave those jobs back when the men returned. Labor participation for women was 34% in 1950. Now it stands at 60%. A lot of women who now can freely choose a career are choosing it over life as a homemaker. Partly this is because of a bad economy. Partly it's because since women flooded into the labor market the increased labor supply led to lower wages forcing more families to require two salaries to stay financially secure.

But mostly it's because women, like men, enjoy working and gain fulfillment in doing a good days work even if it is outside the home and doesn't involve bringing up children.