Wow, this must be my lucky day!!
As if the whole TV thing weren’t enough to feed my ego for a month or so, Sarah Gilbert picked today of all days to run my answers to her questions about defining feminism on Blogging Baby. I had, quite frankly, almost forgotten about this. Way back at the end of November, Sarah wrote a piece in response to Linda Hirshman’s ridiculous article opining that college-educated women who choose to stay home are somehow destroying feminism. She asked for women to share their thoughts and stories, and I had a few thoughts on the subject.
Thanks, Sarah, not only for the podium, but for sharing my rant. And thank you especially for rebutting Hirshman’s argument in the first place, and opening this conversation. It’s definitely a topic worth examining.
Danigirl,
Your interview was beautifully written and answered. I especially like this phrase “My life begins at 4 pm.”
Mine does too…
Great job!
V.
Danigirl,
Your interview was beautifully written and answered. I especially like this phrase “My life begins at 4 pm.”
Mine does too…
Great job!
V.
Hmmm…interesting. I wonder, how often does your husband get slammed by other men for “bailing” by being a part-time worker/at-home dad? My brother stays home full-time with his kids (for much the same reasons as yours/your husbands’) and I know for a fact that he has never been confronted by this topic.
I, on the other hand, as a current SAHM and former communications/marketing professional who, heaven forbid even took her husband’s last name (the horror!), am confronted with this issue constantly. I even have a good friend who can’t believe that a “bright, enlightened woman like [me]” could have made these choices.
We’ve come a long way, but have a long way to go, baby!
Hmmm…interesting. I wonder, how often does your husband get slammed by other men for “bailing” by being a part-time worker/at-home dad? My brother stays home full-time with his kids (for much the same reasons as yours/your husbands’) and I know for a fact that he has never been confronted by this topic.
I, on the other hand, as a current SAHM and former communications/marketing professional who, heaven forbid even took her husband’s last name (the horror!), am confronted with this issue constantly. I even have a good friend who can’t believe that a “bright, enlightened woman like [me]” could have made these choices.
We’ve come a long way, but have a long way to go, baby!
As always, I am impressed with your candor and your articulateness. DH and I are hoping to get into a similar arrangement when my job goes FT. If we are half as content as you are, life will be good (I HATE leaving the kids at daycare every day, even for 5.5 hrs. And I HATE being to tired/rushed to enjoy them as much as I should.)
As always, I am impressed with your candor and your articulateness. DH and I are hoping to get into a similar arrangement when my job goes FT. If we are half as content as you are, life will be good (I HATE leaving the kids at daycare every day, even for 5.5 hrs. And I HATE being to tired/rushed to enjoy them as much as I should.)
Extremely well written Dani. I was nodding in approval all the way through.
When I went through my professional training, women in my field were a very small minority. We were the trailblazers in a way. Many of our male professors would make our life difficult as they saw us impinging on their male territory. I’ll never forget one particular remark that still infuriates me to this day: “you’ll never be good at this, why don’t you just go back to the kitchen.”
Fast forward two decades and I end up ditching my career to stay home with the kids. My choice and I’m totally aware of how fortunate I am to even have taht choice. Many people questioned this decision and surprisingly mostly male colleagues who saw me throwing away my career and all that work to get there. I think some of them are uneasy with the fact that THEY don’t have that choice.
Extremely well written Dani. I was nodding in approval all the way through.
When I went through my professional training, women in my field were a very small minority. We were the trailblazers in a way. Many of our male professors would make our life difficult as they saw us impinging on their male territory. I’ll never forget one particular remark that still infuriates me to this day: “you’ll never be good at this, why don’t you just go back to the kitchen.”
Fast forward two decades and I end up ditching my career to stay home with the kids. My choice and I’m totally aware of how fortunate I am to even have taht choice. Many people questioned this decision and surprisingly mostly male colleagues who saw me throwing away my career and all that work to get there. I think some of them are uneasy with the fact that THEY don’t have that choice.