“But Mom, you
don’t work,” is what I heard from the backseat.
It was the
answer given to the recap of my day as a reason for my exhaustion. I had done five loads of laundry, picked up
the dry cleaning, cleaned up the home and planned dinner. We were heading home, where I’d spend the
next few hours cloning myself to help with homework, start supper, walk the
dogs and put those loads of clothes away.
“Dad has a job
and you don’t,” she continued innocently.
I was
stunned. I thought about those words for
a long moment. You don’t work. Is that how the children really view me? I
thought. As a jobless mother who sits at
home watching TV, painting my fingernails and occasionally throwing some food
in the skillet? Well, thank God for Dad,
who at least does something.
At first,
feelings of ingratitude set in. Who exactly
do they think folds their clothes and puts them away? The wardrobe fairy? And who ensures they arrive to dance lesson
on time or that a gift has been purchased for their friend’s birthday party
next week? My mind raced through the
list of chores and responsibilities I have in order to run our household
smoothly. Do they not notice the dark
circles under my eyes and do they not see that my own bedroom is in shambles
while theirs has been spotlessly cleaned?
Then
ingratitude molded into something else: the realization that in my daughter’s
eyes the true worth of a woman rests in whether she has a ‘real’ job or
not. To her the true value of a woman
depends upon the caliber of her career.
I don’t hold a traditional nine to five
job anymore but instead fit the shoes of the nearly extinct homemaker. On several occasions people ask me ‘what I
do’. The question always translates to:
what is your career? I find myself
answering ‘stay at home mom’ or ‘homemaker’ and a sudden wave of emptiness
washes over me. People reply by nodding
their heads and mutter a low ‘ooohh’, a polite way of saying “oh, must
be nice to be home and not work’.
At what point
did the line between Women’s Right and Radical Feminism blur? Better yet, when did the two create a new
stereotypical movement to disempower women who don’t exercise the ‘modern
woman’ guidelines? I think of the women before us, from the first Women’s
Rights Convention at Seneca Falls in 1848 down to Susan B. Anthony (cofounder
of National Woman Suffrage Association, NWSA) and Lucy Stone (founder of
American Woman Suffrage Association, AWSA).
Would they agree that progress has been made by adhering to the general
thought that women should have powerful careers and hold special places in
order to be an emancipated woman?
I think not.
Although the
battle for equal opportunity, the right to vote, the access to education, and
the vision of gender equality has made great strides (I dare not say won),
there is still a war that wages against women.
It’s a simple, feeble reality that hides inside the accomplishments
above. Women are continuously being
scrutinized and evaluated against the expectations of modern society. In a way, it seems that as women made
progress in politics, education and business, the important counterparts that
make us who we are—mothers, wives and nurturers, have diminished. The true value of a woman shines when she is
one with herself and others. The social
disconnect that occurs if she fails to follow the distinct qualities set forth
by modern society, shows that women still aren’t free from ‘standards’. To diminish any role of a woman, whether it’s
a traditional one or not, is still to confront her with the struggle we’ve
faced all along: depreciation. And that
depreciation alone undermines the original rights fought for each woman; that
she is valuable and equal to man, despite her choices in life.
Over the years
I’ve talked with friends and found a distressing train of thought among many of
them. They worry that falling in love
with a man and marrying will murder their independence as a twenty-first
century woman; the thought of having a child means they must be barefoot and pregnant,
unable to ever achieve anything else in their lives. Yet, many of their tendencies subconsciously
led them to find someone to settle down and start a life with. This common belief that contradicted their
womanly instinct saddened me. When has
the inner desire of being what essentially makes us women become so bothersome
that we must suppress it in order to justify our value? Better yet, why is it more widely acceptable,
even desirable, for a man to chase the traditional role of financial provider,
husband and father in order to be considered ‘on the right track’? Has that role not been the same since the
beginning of time?
Emancipation
should empower women in any way we see fit.
Sadly, emancipation has also established a nearly impenetrable wall that
replaced the undermined and forgotten woman with another type; the tigress that
must dominate. In her book Anarchism
and Other Essays, Emma Goldman says, “Now, woman is confronted with the
necessity of emancipating herself from emancipation, if she really desires to
be free.”
To understand
the meaning of emancipation isn’t for women to have to hold a career; to
rebel against the opposite
sex’s role as provider; or an over exaggerated show of equality. It is to explore our potentials and fulfill
our destiny as guilt-free human beings.
Discover more of Tamara's writings on her blog: http://tamararokicki.wordpress.com/
Want more for Mother's Day?
Saving our children from Mothers’ Day (Danielle Rose)
The Real Emancipated Woman (by Tamara Rokicki)
Make sure the kids wear coats: A Mother’s Day Blog (by Charla Dury) POSTS 5/6/15
The Goddess Connection: Mothers and Maeve (by Tara Ann Lesko) POSTS 5/7/15
In a Nutshell: On Mothers (by Danielle Rose) POSTS 5/8/15
Discover more of Tamara's writings on her blog: http://tamararokicki.wordpress.com/
Want more for Mother's Day?
Saving our children from Mothers’ Day (Danielle Rose)
The Real Emancipated Woman (by Tamara Rokicki)
Make sure the kids wear coats: A Mother’s Day Blog (by Charla Dury) POSTS 5/6/15
The Goddess Connection: Mothers and Maeve (by Tara Ann Lesko) POSTS 5/7/15
In a Nutshell: On Mothers (by Danielle Rose) POSTS 5/8/15
Post a Comment