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."
Apparently the Indians do
Guys, do you want a woman like this? And ladies, do you want a man you can steamroll like this? I know I don't. I want a man to be a man, not a spineless piece of flesh who's only reason for existence is to have sex at the expense of his self-esteem and self-worth.
My wife stays home, and she works twice as hard as I do.
Agreed, when two income households became the norm the economy adjusted quickly to the increased incomes. Housing, transportation and assorted costs went up correspondingly to the reduction in quality of life.
I didn't get the impression from reading the article that there is disdain for housewives or stay-at-home moms. I picked up that some of these women are claiming to stay at home to raise their kids and be a housewife in lieu of work but aren't doing the work end of housewifery. I can't blame them, cooking & cleaning isn't really fun and if you have the money, by all means hire someone to do it. But to do it under the mask of being a selfless mother when some of them are clearly just lazy and don't want to report to a boss while having their own staff to do their personal work. Just stop pretending they are so selfless when they've got it all.
Don't forget taxes!
To me the tone of it was indicating that all women not working in careers were taking this lazy way out. It didn't bother to recognize the women that just want to be good wives and mothers.
Thank you, and congratulations to you and your wife! The future looks like us!
I know of a number of "stay at home moms" who are like those described in the story. I was born at the very tail end of Gen X. These women I know in real life tend to be in their late 20s or 30s, married to men approximately twice their age. In the younger couples I know, either both parents work or mom's full time job is to be a true housewife and mother.
The original feminists wanted for women to be able to have choices in life. There are serious differences between original feminist ideals and the man-hating feminazi bull that is masquerading for feminism these days.
Realistically, I know I'll never be a stay at home wife and mother - I have no desire to do so. I'm not saying that being a full time caregiver is NOT meaningful, because it absolutely is - it's just not going to be the right choice for me and my husband-to-be. I grew up in a two-parent home where mom and dad worked, and daycare and being cared for by family members didn't maim me too terribly. :-)
Conservatives should stop proclaiming that any woman who wishes to have a career and a family is some psycho feminazi...we're not. Shockingly, some conservative women are working mothers, and are usually pretty good at balancing both from what I've seen.
LOL
Hey! There will be no picking on of the husband! :-)
Okay, this article hits home. I'm not Generation X but I'm close.
Ever since I was a small child, it was always my dream to marry and be a housewife. Maybe some call that unambitious or exploitative. But I always wanted to cook and bake all day, manage the finances, basically, to run a home. I think I'd be really good at it. I've never wanted to do anything else.
Yet at the same time, I've never really wanted to have children. Just never felt much of a connection to them. I am not permanently opposed to the idea, however.
I'm also very religious and conservative.
Does this make me a user? If I find a man who wants a traditional woman like me, one who doesn't work outside of the home, do people think there is something wrong with that? I'm not lazy, I'm a very hard worker. It's just always been my dream to do my work by maintaining our home.
BTW, of course if I have to work outside of the home to build our finances, I will. But ultimately, my dream is to be a housewife.
Baby boomer mums pioneered the tradition. The GenX princesses are simply doing what they have been taught.
I admit I am horrid at housework. I homeschool, so have four children home all day. Even if things look decent in the morning four small tornadoes hit right after lunch. I'm not talking about small messes either. When I complain about it someone will say, "If you sent your kids to school, you'd have more time for housework." Never mind that it's the two youngest who cause most of the trouble. LOL!
I was born in '71. I stay home with two preschoolers and one on the way. I hate it. For some reason it's difficult to discover one's sense of 'self-worth' doing this. My husband works all the time and we don't go anywhere or do anything except stay home. Before I had children, we would occasionally take trips, go shopping, and go out to eat because I was earning a good income and felt that I had some say in the matter.
I have other Mom friends, but they want to sic their kids on me whenever they get the chance. I feel burned out of being around little kids.
Jane Austen is my favorite author. Or was, when I had time to read books. She never married and felt that that sort of life was drudgery. I suppose it was even more so, before one could even read Free Republic :-)
Ditto!
My mother insists that she worked harder staying at home doing petty chores than my dad worked for 30 years in a 110 degree factory.
The catch is, my mother didn't really do all that much around the house. From my observations, most housewives don't.
Completely cleaning an average sized house takes all of what, 3 or 4 hours? Also, the house is completely cleaned every single day? Yeah right.
And this notion of "taking care of kids", what exactly does that involve? Sitting them in front of the TV while "princess" chit chats on the phone all afternoon?
On your next day off go visit your local mall, shopping center, mall, Wal- Mart, mall, or any other store (mall) during the day. Take a good look around. You'll be amazed at how many housewifes are doing "back-breaking work" at the mall during the day.
I'm sure the Freeper Feminist Hit Squad will show up on this thread and flame me.
Since our jobs are seven days a week, what do you think would be a good day to run the thread? Fridays are actually best for me; I do my major housework Mon-Wed and laundry each Thursday so I have the weekend as free as possible. Or would a weekend day be better? Any ideas for a name?
Friday would be pretty good for me ... we don't have any classes or activities on Friday!
Have you tried "Mothers of Preschoolers" or Christian Women's Club? Both of these have child care provided for young children, so that moms can enjoy some time apart.
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