Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Why women shouldn't be in the workforce

Last night my parents started talking to me about where I wanted to go to college, and I did not like the conversation one bit. I really don't know what I want to do or where I want to go when I grow up. But both of them went to four year schools and so of course they have their respective opinions. And although I know it is probably what is expected of me to go to college and have a career, I don't know if that's what I want. Furthermore, in thinking about it, I'm not even sure that I think that women should become professionals.
Sure we're all crazy feminists today that think that we have some sort of right and calling to be doctors and lawyers and do whatever men can do, but seriously, why? Women have rarely been the traditional bread-winner in families over the course of history, why on earth should we see it as our divine right at this point in time?
Shouldn't our place more be, and as June Cleaver-esque and '50s deranged as this may sound, in the home. Now I'm not saying that we all have to conform to these standards; certainly there have been many women in history that were geniuses and we would have been lost without, but I am not one of them.

If I had my choice between living a boring life stuck inside a cubicle or stuck at home baking, I would certainly choose the latter. Plus, we have this crazy view of life that's like, you are only smart and successful if you go to college and get a good job. Well, I think that there are plenty of other ways that women can prove that they are smart other than classical education.
And all this weird probably sounds strange coming from a girl, but I think that I am rightfully justified in my views. I don't think that women's mental capacities are any less than men's or that we are sub-par, because we aren't. But I do think that women are classically reared to be different than men; qualities that will make them more feeble and weak in the work force. I mean think about it, Miss Manners has engrained in me and many other ladies, ever since an early age, that manners and grace are what are important in life, none of which will come in particularly handy when negotiating a big deal in the board room.
And while we may see it as societal advancement to be able to say that oodles of women are employed in the workforce, who's standards are those? Why can't people think this issue through and redefine those standards. In other cultures, women successfully never leave the home and it's working pretty well for them (obviously with the exception of a few). So, with that having been said, maybe I won't go to college; maybe I will just become an mascara model.

No comments: