How Feminism Failed Stay At Home Mothers

How Feminism Failed Stay at Home Mothers

A random rant by Mystika Faith at www.MonstersGoneWild.ca

Feminism... One step forward.... Three steps back...

There was once a time when women had no rights.  They were not allowed to vote, to work outside the home, to be entitled equal pay, to obtain an education and so on and so forth.  Essentially, they were deemed as second class citizens and men ruled the world.

But all that changed or at least most of it.  Some bravely fierce women stepped up to the plate.  They demanded a vote, they demanded to work, they demanded education, but most importantly they demanded EQUALITY. Feminism has done wonders for our society and for the women who live within in it.  But sadly, feminism has failed a select few.

I am one of the casualties of feminism.

Women once lived in a world in which they were expected to stay at home with their children whilst cooking and cleaning all day long.  It was a challenging life and one that many rebelled against.  Feminism fought against this 'housewife' expectation.  It fought to get these women out of their houses and away from their children where they could achieve a sense of self worth and life satisfaction.  It fought to allow these women to become equal citizens in the 'man's world' in which they lived.

And this is where the problem lies.  Not all women wanted this.  Some were actually quite happy being homemakers and all they wanted was a little appreciation and respect.  They wanted to be considered equal contributors.   Unfortunately, this did not happen.  If anything, we've moved further away from valuing the role of the homemaker.  

During that time when men had all the power, our feminist sisters said 'NO!  NO!  NO!  We want some of that power too!" and they took it!  Power corrupts.  No longer did they fight for equality.  It was all about status.  The result -  It wasn't just the men who were harshly judging the inferiority of stay at home mothers, it was the working feminists as well!

As proof,  I recently saw this eCard pop up on my Facebook wall: 

Picture URL : http://www.someecards.com/usercards/viewcard/MjAxMi02ZDE0ODQ4ZDViZTI3ZmQx

How sad is this?  Why are stay at home mothers worthy of less respect than their working mother counterparts?  Why must success be measured in terms of 'career' achievement and financial gain?  I'm not dissing the working mom!  Heavens No!  I used to be her!  And I am very thankful that we as women have progressed to the point where we CAN go out and work IF we want to.  The thing that has my panties twisted is the preoccupation that success and self worth MUST come from outside of the home in order to be respected.  This is how men traditionally thought and this is what the majority of our new age women have come to believe.  

Feminism succeeded in that women are now privileged to play with the boys, work with the boys, vote with the boys, and even think like the boys.  A great success!  Except for those who don't enjoy those boy games.  I no longer want to play!  I want to stay at home and raise my children.  I want to cook and clean. Okay maybe not clean, but you get the idea!  Unfortunately, in order to do so I must resign myself to the bottom of the social ladder.  And why?  Because feminism failed to bring equality to housewives.

Just recently, a woman commented how sad it was to put all of ones self worth into being a stay at home mother.  It isn't the 1950's after all.  Sadly, this negative comment, is one of MANY I've bore witness to since becoming a stay at home mother.  In the eyes of our society, women who stay at home with their children are frowned upon.  While ones that go out into the 'real world' and raise the children of strangers are respected.  Why must there be a discrepancy?

I once spent my days outside the home.  But as the years went by I changed, as did my career (or more specifically lack of a career) ambitions.  To go from mingling with doctors and catching babies to being 'just a mom' had a significant impact on not only how others viewed me, but on how I viewed myself.  That's right!  Even I had been corrupted by that feminististic ideology that homemaking was an inferior role.  

Where's our respect?  Where's our appreciation?

I know I am not alone in feeling this way.  All we want is a little equality.  You know, what the original feminists sought out to achieve...