Do GenX women want all play and no work?

Newkerala ^ | 5/13/04 | IANS

[DUDLEY]

I will help with whatever I can help with...but I am not that great at computers either. Also, I noticed that I said in my earlier post that I would be home January through April. I will be working January through April. ( This pregnancy thing has made me lose my mind.)

[Skywalk]

No, read up on the article.

It's not women who are trying to stay home and be moms, but women who want to not work INCLUDING at home.

This jibes with many an occasion I've seen where the woman stays at home, but then wants a man who works 40-60 hours a week to share in the chores. What are they staying home for, if not to take care of the indoor tasks, at least?

[qam1]

Who can't believe it? We grew up in the hyper materialistic 1970s and 1980s- we are the first Designer Generation. What do you expect?

BTW- FWIW- I am not at all like the above, and I am VERY alarmed for our generation, and even moreso for our kids!

I would disagree, It's been my observation of friends and family of my age range (Gen-x) and the responses of some of the mothers on the Xer Ping list that Gen-Xers make way better parents than the selfish me,me,me Baby Boomers who were too busy "Doing their own thing" to properly take care of their kids. I am just amazed and hopefully for the future when I see some of my friends who had utterly terrible uncaring parents are now themselves very loving and attentive parents.

Here some stats for the past ten years, You can how see things are improving as more and more Gen-Xers take over as being the parents of today's kids from the Me generation

From 1991-2001

violent crime rate has declined through this period, as well as The pregnancy rate for unmarried women has continuously declined through the 1990s and the abortion rate dropped by about 25 percent for both married and unmarried women through the 1990s , The teen Pregnancy Rate Reached a Record Low, More Teenagers are saying no to sex and Drug use by teenagers continues to decline.

[k2blader]

Not sure what your point is... ?

[boxsmith13]

"Sounds like Baby Boomer Feminist sour grapes over Gen-Xers who aren't following in their footsteps"

BINGO

[k2blader]

I stay home with two preschoolers and one on the way.

I admire women like you, especially when they're raising their children in a Christian conservative way.

What you're doing is one of the most worthy things in the world.

[agrarianlady]

Thank you. I appreciate that.

Oh, I guess my point earlier was that it seems to be traditionally the man's role to provide the worldly goods for the woman, (whether she works outside the home or not), as it mentions in the vow from the old Book of Common Prayer.

I was reading Paul's advice to Timothy about roles for younger women. He recommends that they marry, have children, manage their homes and give the enemy no opportunity for slander. He also lauds older widows who have been faithful to their husbands and well knows for their good deeds, such as bringing up children, showing hospitality, washing the feet of the saints (useful when people wore sandals), helping those in trouble and devoting themselves to all kinds of good deeds.

It seems that a woman who does not work for pay outside the home might find a tremendously useful role for herself in her community. And it might be beneficial for 'society' at large, perhaps.

But I also compare this to the 'Proverbs 31' woman, who is virtuous and hard-working for profit for her family and to share with the needy. She trades and buys land and works with eager hands. But her first priority is taking good care of her family. (and servants).

The article is very unclear about what the women in the article are doing with their time. There's nothing wrong with outsourcing the dirty work if you can pay for it. That frees a woman up to spend more time with her children or on other projects that benefit the household. In my grandmother's day there was usually a hired girl about the place. Since there weren't that many jobs available to women, there wasn't a lack of good mother's helpers.

[k2blader]

my point earlier was that it seems to be traditionally the man's role to provide the worldly goods for the woman

Agreed--I believe it is.

It seems that a woman who does not work for pay outside the home might find a tremendously useful role for herself in her community. And it might be beneficial for 'society' at large, perhaps.

Most definitely. Re. #82 (which is aimed specifically at childless couples), work can also mean volunteering in the community or at church or otherwise pursuing a worthy endeavor that gives of oneself.

But her first priority is taking good care of her family. (and servants).

There's nothing wrong with outsourcing the dirty work if you can pay for it. That frees a woman up to spend more time with her children or on other projects that benefit the household.

Agreed, again. :-)

[Unassuaged]

Maybe it is sour grapes, but I think there is more to it than that.
As my circle of friends stats to have children, I started to notice a trend. Mom and Dad both worked before the child, Mom quits to have the baby, Dad is OK or even happy with that, BUT Dad ends up doing a huge share of the chores after work, including cooking! I do not know what to tell these guys. The wives seem to believe that being a homemaker is beneath them, and want all the chores to be split 50/50, almost as if the husband does not work 40+ hours a week. And in all the cases the husband is now working a stressful salaried position, by no means a slacker job. In fact I when to visit my friend after we both got off of work and he had to cook diner for him and his wife, and then put the baby down, so she could have some "free" time away from the kid. I cause some strife by saying "why don't you let her cook and you can spend some time with your son? She said it was "unfair" to expect her to be the cook in the house! I guess that she never learned how to be a wife/mother during her time learning to fight for equality, I feel sorry for my friend. And this is at the point when the baby sleeps a lot, I cannot imagine what it will be like when the tyke can run around. The good part is my wife and I got to see that from the outside, and were able to talk about it before our baby comes. Long rant, but i keep seeing the trend, most always with the nicest guys--it is almost as if the moms want to give about the same level of parenting as a working single mom, but not have to work!

[Sodbuster]

Hola Princess Warrior!! Since you're asking... I agree with you. Our culture dictates that it will be as you have described. American 'men' are competing to see how metrosexual they can be while American women are in perpetual competition for slut of the month.

I've dated immigrant Mexican, Vietnamese, and Thai women with more sense than any Americanized 'indoctrinated' women here in So Cal. They get it. They haven't been bombarded with all the BS coming out of the media. Like the article said, 'What's mine is mine and what's his is mine' - What's my incentive to hook up with someone like that?

In general, American women have a chip on their shoulder and a sense of entitlement that I'm not willing to put up with. They demand a lot, but often have nothing to offer in return (except for sex, but I'm gettin' too old to fall for that again). I'm successful. I know how to manage money. That's MY job - OK. End of debate. Unless you've got a PHD in economics, forget about getting near it. She can live off a percentage of the interest - Ok? (If she's frugal) Our time on Earth is valuable - why can't I be a little bit fussy when it comes to selecting who I want to share my time with. Does that make me a barbarian? Maybe I think that I am entitled to have a little bit of control in my life.

Right now I've got me a hot sexy Mexican mama!! She understands me!! Could be serious!! She works hard (by choice), is successful, and we communicate well. It's a partnership and we both understand that.

PS - Sorry for the rant. Is that you firing those kick ass guns on your profile? I don't even know what that one is. All I ever shot was a 22 rifle and a few different shotguns, hunting squirrels, rabbits, and pheasants when I was growing up.

[the OlLine Rebel]

"he realities of human psychobiology do not change, simply because we wish things were different."


Maybe not, but unlike other animals and their psychobiology, you (as a human) are obviously CONSCIOUS of that "fact" - so why not learn how to deal w/it and squelch those baser tendencies?

[the OlLine Rebel]

You're telling me! Well they start out reasonably enough, but soon seems to turn into a woman-bashing fest to some extent.

I am a (true) single working woman, BTW. So I'm a little unbiased. ;-)