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Unleashing the Wrath of Stay-at-Home Moms [feminist screed - on Father's Day]
The Washington Post ^ | June 18, 2006 | Linda R. Hirshman

Posted on 06/18/2006 11:03:54 AM PDT by Heatseeker

When I set out to write a book about how the first generation of women to grow up with feminism managed their marriages, I never dreamed I'd wind up the subject of a Web article called "Everybody Hates Linda."

Everybody started hating Linda, apparently, when I published an article in the progressive magazine the American Prospect last December, saying that women who quit their jobs to stay home with their children were making a mistake. Worse, I said that the tasks of housekeeping and child rearing were not worthy of the full time and talents of intelligent and educated human beings. They do not require a great intellect, they are not honored and they do not involve risks and the rewards that risk brings. Oh, and by the way, where were the dads when all this household labor was being distributed? Maybe the thickest glass ceiling, I wrote, is at home.

Okay, I'm judgmental. That's what CBS's Lesley Stahl called me on "60 Minutes." But I'm a philosopher, and it's a philosopher's job to tell people how they should lead their lives.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: feminism; feminists; moms; motherhood; stayathomemoms
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To: operation clinton cleanup

Ignorance thy name is leftist.


81 posted on 06/18/2006 2:21:42 PM PDT by longtermmemmory (VOTE! http://www.senate.gov and http://www.house.gov)
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To: Heatseeker
Linda R. Hirshman, a retired professor of philosophy and women's studies at Brandeis University, is author of the just-published "Get to Work: A Manifesto for Women of the World" (Viking).

What next for a sequel..."Arbeit macht Frei"?

I would suppose Linda had good domestic help during the days when her 3 daughters were children. And that she never worked at a crappy job for crappy people doing forgettable things because she had to make the mortgage payments. So much for "fulfillment"

Personally haved lived both ways (careerist and now SAHM), I cannot imagine not hearing what my kids have to say everyday when I pick them up at a school.

BTW, in this article her bashing of "fundamentalists" as the reason so many women choose to stay home WITH AND FOR THEIR CHILDREN ... is shameful.
82 posted on 06/18/2006 2:27:07 PM PDT by silverleaf (Fasten your seat belts- it's going to be a BUMPY ride.)
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To: Heatseeker

"... It's actually a little embarrassing to think how easily we were persuaded that once qualified women had a chance to prove their mettle in the professional and skilled labor force, the bastions of male privilege would come tumbling down. (No such luck.)"

Since I have a household of (gasp) males that I've either married or reared, we have discussed at length the idea that women are given a host of possibilities and alternatives within the marriage itself, while men are STILL expected to slog that bacon home and dare not attempt to "discover" the male mystique or explore alternative fun and games. Feminazis seem to believe that it is the woman's perogative to define what and who she is within the context of work and family while ignoring the particular concept of wife, mother, and helpmate.

The whole idea behind feminazism is to redefine what is male and female. I can only think that this is hand-in-glove with the homosexual movement as they attempt to redefine what is marriage and what combinations and accommodations should be accorded legal status.

I have only found the author's attitude in certain professions, namely social sciences and humanities. It smacks of disdain and a smarmy sense of self-righteousness.

Fie on her and her sister-victim mentality. I was there when this movement began in the 60's and got out when the whining started. There is a difference between true discrimination and the kind of social engineering to redefine men and women occurring today.

I cannot begin to count the number of philosophy graduates who are now gainfully employed in the hospitality business.


83 posted on 06/18/2006 2:27:36 PM PDT by OpusatFR ( ALEA IACTA EST. We have just crossed the Rubicon.)
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To: jimbo123

I'm sure she will have no problem with the having to stay at home and rear children. ugh.


84 posted on 06/18/2006 2:50:55 PM PDT by chiefqc
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To: Heatseeker

I'm a philosopher, too. And my philosophy is that this woman is full of it. :)

I'll never understand feminism, and I "came of age" in the 70's, so it was in my face everytime I turned around.

I firmly believe a woman CAN have it all...she just can't have it all, all at once.

I had a terrific career, traveled the globe, finished my education, was footloose and fancy-free for a good, long time, then settled down to raise my family when I was thirty-five. My boys were (and are) the light of my life.

I wouldn't change one second of my life for anything on Earth. It just keeps getting better and better. Right now, the boys are grown and off on their own, the middle one has his first "serious" girlfriend, DH & I are running a business together, we'll welcome Grandkids in the future...AFTER a wedding, Please God, we plan to retire before we're 55 and then be your typical "Snowbirds" but between Hawaii and Alaska. ;)

If you had asked me to sit down and write the perfect "script" for a woman's life, my life would be it. Well, for ME anyway, LOL! :)

I pity these bitter, loveless crones. Really, I do. How disappointed they must be to realize what a crock feminism was & is. I mean, they MUST realize that or they wouldn't be spewing this type of angry venom out into the world.

What a shame for this to take Center Stage on Father's Day! But, consider the source. *Rolleyes*

And one more thing...I had a loving, supportive Dad who thought the sun rose and set on me. (Still does!) He instilled in me confidence and self-worth and a "you can do anything EVEN if you're a girl" attitude. I didn't need the feminists defining my self worth; I had a FAMILY that did that. (My Mom was quite "untraditional" in many ways, but she always, always put us girls first and worked around us & Dad.)

I would venture to guess that this type of FemiGnatzie author never had that type of upbringing. And unfortunately there's a whole generation of these types out there because their OWN mothers didn't care enough to provide them with a father and a typical, traditional "family."

*Steps Off Soapbox* :)


85 posted on 06/18/2006 2:55:20 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin (Save The Earth. It's The Only Planet With Chocolate.)
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To: operation clinton cleanup

That is ONE scary picture. WHERE did she get those glasses? She's a typical liberal womyn who doesn't even like herself enough to primp a little. I feel sorry for her. She's missed out on everything that's good about life and I think she knows that.


86 posted on 06/18/2006 2:55:27 PM PDT by Marysecretary (Thank you, Lord, for FOUR MORE YEARS!!!)
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To: Marysecretary
WHERE did she get those glasses?

Thats what I'm talking about. I don't think you can buy them off the shelf, which means they must have been custom made.... even more scary!

87 posted on 06/18/2006 3:01:11 PM PDT by operation clinton cleanup
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To: NativeNewYorker; operation clinton cleanup

That is a GAG photo--literally!


88 posted on 06/18/2006 7:20:53 PM PDT by ViLaLuz (Stop the ACLU - Support the Public Expression of Religion Act 2005 - Call your congressmen.)
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To: Heatseeker

I have no clue how to deal with these types.......I really don't.

And I say that as a stay at home mom, who is also self-employed, and has a little part-time job 3 evenings a week.

I work rather hard, but it really makes no nevermind to me. My child never comes home to an empty house after school, nor is she just deposited at a day care center.

She has known for years how to make a pie crust, peel and core an apple, make pasta from scratch, clean a fresh caught fish, light a fire in the woodstove, plant and grow herbs, veggies, fruits, and flowers, and basically know how to take care of the important things in life.

Oh and did I mention she will be turning 8 (yes eight, that's not a typo) next month??????

Daddy and mommy may not be perfect parents, but we do the bestest we can.......and seeing the look in that child's eyes when she hollers "Daddy's home" tells me all I need to know.

The feminazis can pound sand for all I care.


89 posted on 06/18/2006 7:50:42 PM PDT by Gabz (Proud to be a WalMartian --- beep)
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To: operation clinton cleanup

Well, we can at least assume she has no taste!


90 posted on 06/19/2006 1:04:13 AM PDT by Marysecretary (Thank you, Lord, for FOUR MORE YEARS!!!)
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To: Cailleach

ping


91 posted on 06/19/2006 1:40:42 AM PDT by kalee (Send your senators the dictionary definition of "amnesty")
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To: Heatseeker

Just another tired feminazi attack on motherhood, with an attempt to make it look original. This pseudo-intellectual even DARES compare herself to Socrates!

Hirshman endorses a self-worshipping, narcissistic, unreflective ideology -- I refuse to dignify it with the term "philosophy." Her feminazism does not give two shakes whether it is better for children to be abandoned by women in favor of careerism, and disregards any impact this may have on society as a whole.


92 posted on 06/19/2006 7:25:13 AM PDT by The Old Hoosier (Right makes might.)
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To: All

God bless all the moms on this thread, whether they have a career or not. But God bless the fathers too who are equally as important.

I think NativeNewYorker got it right about Hirshman; she's just another far-left looneytoon from academia from whom the the Post is trying to sell books, quite possibly because (a) Ann Coulter still sits at the top of the charts and (b) it was Father's Day and apparently it is the first commandment among liberals that Thou Shall Hate Fathers.


93 posted on 06/19/2006 9:19:04 AM PDT by Heatseeker
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To: Heatseeker
they are not honored and they do not involve risks and the rewards that risk brings.

HA!LOL!Come spend a day with our two boys(18 months and 2 1/2) and she'll see what "risks" really are.

94 posted on 06/19/2006 9:48:56 AM PDT by quack
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To: CatoRenasci
Women spend more time cleaning and cooking because they (often) have a lower threshold of "I can't stand the mess" or "No, we can't have TV dinners or go out" than do (most) men.

Absolutely true.

My home is clean. It is not immaculate. Women frequently say "it can use some cleaning up."

95 posted on 06/19/2006 9:55:32 AM PDT by BeHoldAPaleHorse ( ~()):~)>)
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To: Heatseeker

I have a new definition of Hell - being married to this woman. Or even worse, she being my mother.


96 posted on 06/19/2006 9:57:41 AM PDT by colorado tanker
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To: colorado tanker
The old saying is:

Marry in Haste;
Repent at Leisure!

97 posted on 06/19/2006 11:20:12 AM PDT by CatoRenasci (Ceterum Censeo Arabiam Esse Delendam -- Forsan et haec olim meminisse iuvabit)
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To: quack; Gabz
HA!LOL!Come spend a day with our two boys(18 months and 2 1/2) and she'll see what "risks" really are.

No kidding, she has never spent any real time being a mom if she cant find any risks involved...

like fishing a mud shark out of the bathtub....

98 posted on 06/19/2006 12:51:57 PM PDT by backinthefold (banoonie baloni?)
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To: backinthefold
No kidding, she has never spent any real time being a mom if she cant find any risks involved...

Excellent point!!!!

like fishing a mud shark out of the bathtub....

Today I was dealing with a baby snapping turtle chowing down on a baby black snake that one of the kittens killed yesterday..........thankfully it was all OUTSIDE.

99 posted on 06/19/2006 1:50:33 PM PDT by Gabz (Proud to be a WalMartian --- beep)
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To: Gabz

See, and I was only thinking about the kids...

Not the dogs, or the cats or the guinia pigs, or the fishtank...


100 posted on 06/19/2006 2:16:09 PM PDT by backinthefold (banoonie baloni?)
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