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Careers are 'making women miserable'
Daily Telegraph ^ | April 25, 2002 | Paul Stokes

Posted on 04/26/2002 9:12:13 AM PDT by Korth

WOMEN have become unhappier as a result of concentrating more on their careers than the family role they once fulfilled, an academic claims in a new book.

Prof James Tooley believes the feminist revolution of the 1960s and 1970s brought about huge changes in attitudes which have not be conducive to motherhood.

In his book, The Miseducation of Women, published next month, he suggests many professional woman would have been more contented by staying at home and bringing up children.

He draws comparisons with the film character Bridget Jones, a love-hungry young woman in publishing who becomes a television presenter and craves a stable relationship rather than being left "a singleton".

Prof Tooley, professor of education policy at Newcastle University, considers that the role of housewife has been "desperately undervalued" in society.

He argues that schools should allow girls to concentrate on the arts and domestic science rather than being pushed towards subjects such as engineering and computer science in an attempt at sexual equality.

Prof Tooley, 42, who is single with no children, said yesterday: "The Bridget Jones effect is growing in society. Women find themselves successful in their careers and unhappy in their lives.

Domesticity has been degraded over the year, particularly by feminists in the 1970s who used the phrases 'parasite' and `leach' to describe the housewife.

"I expect career women will react very strongly against me and to even suggest women would be happier in the home has become almost a taboo. We need to cull a few sacred cows and start a debate on the subject. That is what I am trying to do."

He describes his book as "largely a think piece", based on a study of more than 100,000 men and women in Britain and America by the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Its findings led him to examine the way the education system was shaping the way women lead their lives.

Among his assertions are that women who were pushed into science as pupils and embarked on careers such as law and accountancy are unhappy by the time they reach 30.

Prof Tooley, from Rothbury, Northumblerland, said: "I'm not suggesting we ban girls from the labs, but my research shows that 30 per cent of young women are unhappier with their lives than previous generations were, while young men now seem happier than previous generations were."

Prof Tooley believes the "Bridget Jones generation" was spawned by the feminist revolution.

"Feminists went right to what they thought was the root of the problem. They looked at schooling to change the situation. The Sex Discrimination Act of 1975 and the introduction of the National Curriculum in 1988 are, in a way, products of that, and they've transformed what is taught in school.

"But this means that the curriculum is now designed according to the feminist idea that girls should be following the model that was set down for boys. That is, pursuing a career at the expense of all other things.

"I suggest that this is pushing girls in a direction they don't want to take and there's a whole generation of working women who don't want to be there."


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Government
KEYWORDS: feminism; marriage
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To: A Ruckus of Dogs
Ditto. Perfect response! I need to be able to keep a roof over my head and food on my table. Single women don't get special discounts because they don't have husbands.
21 posted on 04/26/2002 11:13:01 AM PDT by Canticle_of_Deborah
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To: Korth
My niece works for one of the big CPA firms (no, not Andersen!). She has a very successful career and is on partner track.

The firm for some time has been aggressively promoting women. But they have a problem -- many of the women are asking for part-time or flex-time work because of family requirements. It's difficult to promote them over the men when the men don't ask for that favor.

Also, many of the women have quit. Both because of family requirements and because they don't like the long working hours associated with the profession.

22 posted on 04/26/2002 11:18:12 AM PDT by choirboy
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To: olivia2boys
Makes perfect sense. You are there for your kids when they need you, and you are not neglecting them. Thank you.
23 posted on 04/26/2002 11:21:23 AM PDT by DennisR
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To: choirboy
And it's OK--most P/T women (like me) SHOULDN'T be promoted over full-time men. For me, it's been a more than acceptable tradeoff. In fact, I'm enjoying working P/T so much that even when my kids are grown and gone I doubt I'll ever go back to F/T work.
24 posted on 04/26/2002 11:23:22 AM PDT by olivia3boys
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To: Cowgirl
You said it!
25 posted on 04/26/2002 11:24:57 AM PDT by DennisR
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To: Korth
This article has to be a lie. Patricia Ireland says women are miserable at home.
26 posted on 04/26/2002 11:26:40 AM PDT by montag813
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Comment #27 Removed by Moderator

To: ikanakattara
Nice to hear that.

I am a female physics major who's graduating this year from my college and then going over to the local University to get a Master's in Electrical Engineering. My reasoning is simple. I want to get married, have kids, and stay home with them; unfortunately, I'm still single while all my friends are either engaged or in long term relationships. So I might as well be able to support myself in a field that I enjoy while I keep looking. No guy wants a leech for a wife.

28 posted on 04/26/2002 11:30:23 AM PDT by Hawkeye's Girl
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Comment #29 Removed by Moderator

To: Korth
I recruit salespeople...and you'd be surprised at how many times they (hiring authority) say "...and the best candidate would be a male".
30 posted on 04/26/2002 11:39:24 AM PDT by GuillermoX
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To: cajungirl
Transfering one's misery to another is hardly a female attribute. Men do it regularly, as do children

I'm trying to think of a snappy comeback to this but I can't.

Cordially,

31 posted on 04/26/2002 11:39:27 AM PDT by Diamond
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To: farmnlogit
ALL CAPS = screaming.
32 posted on 04/26/2002 11:40:18 AM PDT by GuillermoX
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To: Mahone
Well, I do stay at home as opposed to going to work. I can't see how that is demeaning.
33 posted on 04/26/2002 11:43:10 AM PDT by Cowgirl
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To: A Ruckus of Dogs
Women should learn something they can make a living at. There are no guarantees in life.

I have a feeling that's how most conservative men raise their daughters ---to have a way to support themselves ---just in case. Self-sufficiency vs welfare if they are later abandoned or widowed. Hitting the job market at over 40 with no resume can be a very difficult situation, I know a woman with a double degree and no job history who was told at age 44 that her degree didn't mean anything since hadn't worked.

34 posted on 04/26/2002 11:45:09 AM PDT by FITZ
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To: Korth
I will venture to offer a different side of this coin. Many "housewives" are miserable as well. My wife has a career and has never stayed at home (other than the times when our two sons were infants). I would categorize our relationship as happier than most. Because we both work, there are no financial problems and neither of us have pressure to "bring home the bacon" so we can BOTH put the family ahead of the job. We share household chores and even have the kids pitch in. Every two weeks, we have a maid service clean the house top to bottom so all we really worry about day to day is laundry and cooking (and yard work in the summer).

Not that I think there is anything wrong with stay-at-home moms. I'm just saying that not all women with careers need be miserable. It really depends on how husband and wife are willing to work things out.

35 posted on 04/26/2002 11:46:08 AM PDT by SamAdams76
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To: farmnlogit
Well, I'd say I do take my work seriously, in that I get all my work done quickly and competently, and, in fact, do MORE work than many of my full-time coworkers (I work for the federal gov't which should explain THAT). I suppose I'm not "serious" in that I'm not interested in advancement here, but is that the only measure of seriousness? That said, I'd have no problem with a full-time man being promoted over me. I've sacrificed my "career" for my children and I have no regrets.
36 posted on 04/26/2002 11:46:56 AM PDT by olivia3boys
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To: Draco
You're smart. I raised my daughter as a single parent until she was 12 and therefore had to put her in child-care (which I absolutely hated to do). I always raced home ASAP to pick her up and turned down a lot of evening engagements I should have gone to as as PR person for my company. In two different centers, the children in at the crack of dawn and the last out were the children of two parents who were both lawyers. Made me sad--and ill.
37 posted on 04/26/2002 11:47:10 AM PDT by twigs
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To: Hawkeye's Girl
Excellent way of looking at things. Your husband and kids will have a smart and educated wife and mother who knows what she wants--them!
38 posted on 04/26/2002 11:49:32 AM PDT by twigs
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To: SamAdams76
I don't think I'd be exactly miserable if I were a full-time "work outside the home mom," but I KNOW life would definitely be more hectic. I'd hate to have to do my 10 weekly loads of laundry only on the weekends (we'd be stuck close to home all day, yuck!), or to have to do all my errands only on the weekends. And I have an hour+ commute and so dinner every night would be at 8 pm, and I'd never see my kids. I don't think my family would thrive in this kind of situation. For one thing, full-time day care is horrible for children. It's also very hard for 4 people to converge on each other at the end of the day, having been in separate places, apart, all day. It's easier and more peaceful to just have one member (ie, the father) come home to a family who's waiting for him, with dinner already ready. So while the avoidance of misery is important, I'd say a less hectic lifestyle is important too.
39 posted on 04/26/2002 12:06:06 PM PDT by olivia3boys
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To: Mahone
umm, how about the DIVORCED women with children who HAVE to work AND do housework, etc., etc.

AND in my own personal case, i get a whopping $94 a month for my two kids as my ex-husband has been "finding" himself for the last 12 years., i.e. getting an education (PHD) in lieu of working and sending child support money

he does plan to start his career THE MOMENT the youngest turns 21. (legal limit where child support discontinues).

not all of us can live in fairy land and have hubby support us.

40 posted on 04/26/2002 12:13:08 PM PDT by bandlength
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