Posted on 05/14/2004 6:56:16 AM PDT by qam1
London, May 13 (IANS) :
'What's mine is mine, and what's his is mine!' New research says this is the maxim of GenX women who want to be housewives who don't really work.
Young mothers are rejecting equality in the workplace and preferring the idea of becoming full-time housewives - but not ones who actually do housework.
This is the overall conclusion of research among 2,100 British adults that says women are happy to abandon the workplace but not if it means spending all day at home cooking, cleaning and looking after children.
Instead they want to play the "role" of housewife with a little help from, for instance, a nanny, and someone who does the ironing. Unlike Kylie Minogue, they don't want to do any dusting either.
The report, by Marian Salzman, chief strategic officer of Euro RSCG Worldwide, the world's fifth largest advertising agency, describes these women as princess-style "domestic divas" who effectively exploit their husbands.
"Today, 'women's lib' means wanting to be liberated from the intense pressures of the modern-day working mum," she said.
"And what we're seeing is a serious gender divide regarding women in the workplace. This time around, it is the women who want to stay at home and the men who want to keep them in the offices and factories."
Salzman, 45, who does not have children, is well known in the United States for spotting trends before they go mainstream. She predicted the rise of 1970s fashion nostalgia and, on the eve of the "Bridget Jones" phenomenon, spotted that single professional women would become the new, free-spending yuppies.
Her report last year, "the Future of Men", predicted that "metrosexuals" - straight men who care about fashion, food and grooming - would be the new target of advertisers.
She said 69 percent of women thought it perfectly acceptable for females to be housewives and not to earn a salary. In contrast, only 48 percent of men felt that women should remain outside paid employment.
Her research suggested that the motivation to spend more time at home was "self-centred" for some women. "There are many women who choose to stay home out of concern for their children's quality of life," she said. "But there are plenty of others who are paying lip service to being the 2004 version of the perfect mum.
"In reality they are domestic divas who want the flawless kids, courtesy of the nanny; a spotless home, thanks to a cleaning service; and a reputation for being a fabulously put-together homemaker.
"These are the women who are becoming a target of disdain and rage on the part of spouses who didn't expect to be shouldering the financial burden single-handedly."
She said she was not talking about mothers with very young children but those whose offspring were older and in full-time education.
Jill Kirby, the chairman of the family group at the Centre for Policy Studies think-tank, said: "It's very clear that women who have the choice between working and being at home with their children still want to prioritise their home life and life with their children."
Ping list for the discussion of the politics and social aspects that directly effects Generation-X (Those born from 1965-1981) including all the spending previous generations (i.e. The Baby Boomers) are doing that Gen-X and Y will end up paying for.
Freep mail me to be added or dropped. See my home page for details.
Like this is a trend...
Sounds about like Victorian England or the America before the civil war...
I am a Gen-Xer. I stay at home and I cook, clean, and gladly raise our daughter. My husband appreciates the home cooked dinners on the table after a long day at work. It actually makes me feel more like a productive woman than when I worked as a counselor. To each his own I suppose. :)
*Husband Ping*
At first glance this article makes me very angry, it makes it sound like women just want to be mooches. After some thought I think you are right about the "sour grapes" wrath being written here. I agree that more women want to stay at home, but they want the satisfaction of fullfilling the role of running the house and being a mother.
I say we need more stay at home moms! In my opinion it is key for a great relationship. When quality time can be spent as a family, instead of managing the stress, the relationship is stronger!
I'm not falling for that, I know better then to comment on such a story :)
A lot like me...a stay at home mom with three boys, 6,4 and 2. Sometimes I think about starting a regular, maybe weekly, thread for us moms...issue discussion, recipe swapping, toilet training tips. Do you think there would be much interest?
I would be interested. It sounds great! If you need any help let me know. I would love to see something like that on a weekly thread.
The women's lib movement has brainwashed all of us, and it's the men who have benefitted the most. The New Testament says that a man who doesn't provide for his family is worse than an infidel/unbeliever. I don't see any point in condemning women for wanting to assume their natural role. I'd love to be a stay-at-home wife, but I'm my hubby has other ideas.
I'd be interested ... I have seven kids 13 and under. "How do we combine conservative activism with doing 4 loads of laundry a day?" would be a good topic ... or "What to do with your toddlers at a FReep in the pouring rain."
Good for you!
Thanks for the ping, qam.
You are right about "sour grapes". The Feminists wanted their equality and jobs, etc...plopping their kids in daycare after six weeks' maternity leave so they could "self-actualize". Talk about selfish!
Now their daughters want to actually raise their own children by staying home and taking care of their families and they are GREEN with envy!
I don't have kids...yet...my husband and I have spent the last five years living overseas and we didn't think it appropriate to have children living where we were living. I'm back now but he is still there to wrap things up. I left early because it became too dangerous. I didn't work while we lived there, but I do freelance a little to earn some extra money. I fully intend to stay home and raise my kids when we have them. And I don't have any problem with hiring help around the house if one can afford it, either!
That's what I was thinking. Everything goes in cycles. Their daughters will resent their mothers and either be stay at home mothers, or bra-burning, pantsuit wearing, ultra-feminist businesswomen.
Oh, come on! What tiny percentage of families can afford a nanny, a cleaning service, and all the activities and accessories of a social-ornament wife? Maybe there are just enough to make it worthwhile advertising at these big-spending ladies, and the husbands who CHOOSE to finance this kind of lifestyle.
I know lots of homeschooling families with 5-10 kids, one income. I think all our husbands would be happy if we could afford more help, so that they didn't find their wives exhausted, sweaty, and ready to drink cleaning solvents at the end of the day.
Yes, I'm exaggerating a bit (about the cleaning solvents; my poison of choice is pink wine in a box,) but I think many husbands would be happy to pay a little money (if they had any, after groceries) if it meant their wives would have a little energy left for *them*.
Hi grellis. I am going to have my first child in November and will stay at home mid April through mid January.(I have a tax office.) I would be interested in a weekly thread for moms. If you start one please put me on your list. Dudley
How have men beneffitted the most? I consider it harmful to both men and women. They just don't realize the harm until its to late.
My bet is that even in two income families, the spendable income is lower than in just a generation or two ago.
Who cares what the Brits are doing?
This Bud's for you.
If I didn't know better, I would have thought my wife wrote this....
I am the father of seven, with the oldest being 13.(5 girls). I am the first to tell others my wife works ten times harder than I do.
Keep up the good work..
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