A certain type of person is nostalgic for the old days when ‘men were men, and women were women’. I am not. However, it must be noted that at the time when women were expected to be docile acquiescent homemakers, men were expected to foot the bill. They paid for dinner, sorted the mortgage and brought home the bacon. Not for me, but a fair division of labour.
Now, we have a generation of women who ‘pay their way’, go Dutch and refuse to let men pay for them as they don’t want to be indebted. Grand.
But, these same women also do the lion’s share of housework, because ‘men don’t see it’ and shoulder the emotional labour because ‘that’s just the way men are’.
So, women are now shouldering some of the traditionally male burdens while the traditional female burdens have remained firmly in place. How is this an improvement for women? And why do so many tolerate it? This is a profound misunderstanding of feminism and it hurts so many of us.
AIBU?
To think a lot of women are worse off than 50 years ago?
Tsort · 24/09/2022 23:53
Dollydea · 25/09/2022 00:46
So given the choice you'd want things to go back to living how the average woman did 50 years ago?
Nursejackie1 · 25/09/2022 00:46
@Tsort i agree with you and am a bit pissed sorry I was commenting on a pp
GetRichOrDieTrying · 25/09/2022 00:50
On thé other hand, if posters on here are to believed then men are bringing more money into the household, so it sort of evens out.
Tsort · 25/09/2022 00:01
Are they? Study after study indicates that even if both partners work full time, women do the majority of domestic labour. Men might be doing more than their fathers did, but it’s certainly nowhere near 50%. Meanwhile, the majority of women work. It’s not the same at all.
mamabear715 · 24/09/2022 23:55
But men are supposed to be all things too, I think both sexes are more stressed than they used to be, to be honest.
MangyInseam · 25/09/2022 00:54
The necessity and expectation for families to have two FT adult workers has made many things a lot less great for families. And that does mean something different for women, who are expected to leave often fairly young kids who haven't started school for paid work. Which is something a great many women would prefer not to do.
It's also the case that even once in school, kids have needs that impinge on a lot of FT jobs. So many families feel they are always catching up, have no time together, etc.
The idea that parents can always split these things 50/50 is pretty naive and depends on both people being in certain kinds of jobs. It does not work if one spouse is a fire fighter, works in the fishery, is a CEO, is in the military, and lots of other kinds of jobs that have high demands.
That being said, expectations for families have changed in other ways. That they have kids in lots of activities, live in magazine worthy homes, get a holiday out of the country every year, new clothes seasonally and lots of choice in your wardrobe, and so on.
AffIt · 25/09/2022 00:56
Well, here's a big one: I'm childfree by choice and allowed to be (even if there is still a small proportion of society and MN who look at me, and others like me, askance).
Fifty years ago, I'd have to have pretended to be woestruck by my apparent 'unexplained childlessness' or similar and may have struggled to source the relevant contraception to have allowed me to live my lie and enjoy a reasonable sex life, particularly if I lived in a rural community or similar.
So, yes, I do think life is mostly better for women (of all stamps, not just mothers or straight women). It's not perfect, but it's better.
Tsort · 25/09/2022 00:56
Does it, though? If we both work full time and I come home and do ALL the domestic labour, does the fact that you earn 20% more than me even that out? I don’t think it does.
GetRichOrDieTrying · 25/09/2022 00:50
On thé other hand, if posters on here are to believed then men are bringing more money into the household, so it sort of evens out.
Tsort · 25/09/2022 00:01
Are they? Study after study indicates that even if both partners work full time, women do the majority of domestic labour. Men might be doing more than their fathers did, but it’s certainly nowhere near 50%. Meanwhile, the majority of women work. It’s not the same at all.
mamabear715 · 24/09/2022 23:55
But men are supposed to be all things too, I think both sexes are more stressed than they used to be, to be honest.
Manekinek0 · 25/09/2022 00:59
In an ideal world, I’d have a yacht, a six pack and Jason Momoa on speed dial. What does your comment have to do with the questions in the OP, though?
My point is everyone is worse off. We had 2 full time roles, paid worker and homemaker. Now most families need 2 paid workers to get by and the homemaker role still needs to be done.
Anyoneleft · 25/09/2022 00:02
I am amazed by friends that have given up their jobs/ financial independence for their families. My job is a lot more demanding and higher paid than my husbands so we share the household tasks/parenting around our work schedule. My DD is only 10 but not a hells chance she will grow up thinking her worth/independence is less than her partners
GetRichOrDieTrying · 25/09/2022 01:01
I suppose it depends how much that 20% represents. Let’s be honest here, running the Hoover round and washing his pants isn’t worth £30k per year.
Tsort · 25/09/2022 00:56
Does it, though? If we both work full time and I come home and do ALL the domestic labour, does the fact that you earn 20% more than me even that out? I don’t think it does.
GetRichOrDieTrying · 25/09/2022 00:50
On thé other hand, if posters on here are to believed then men are bringing more money into the household, so it sort of evens out.
Tsort · 25/09/2022 00:01
Are they? Study after study indicates that even if both partners work full time, women do the majority of domestic labour. Men might be doing more than their fathers did, but it’s certainly nowhere near 50%. Meanwhile, the majority of women work. It’s not the same at all.
mamabear715 · 24/09/2022 23:55
But men are supposed to be all things too, I think both sexes are more stressed than they used to be, to be honest.
Dollydea · 25/09/2022 01:02
That's *what you're getting from this thread?
*
Yes? I don't understand your point? Of course some women are worse off now, I don't think anyone can dispute that, but people can only speak from their own experiences?
The average woman is far better off now than the average woman 50 years ago.
Things need to change of course, it's far from perfect but for the majority of women things have changed for the better.
Tsort · 25/09/2022 01:02
So, ‘yes’, then? To the questions asked? Grand, thank you.
Manekinek0 · 25/09/2022 00:59
In an ideal world, I’d have a yacht, a six pack and Jason Momoa on speed dial. What does your comment have to do with the questions in the OP, though?
My point is everyone is worse off. We had 2 full time roles, paid worker and homemaker. Now most families need 2 paid workers to get by and the homemaker role still needs to be done.
Tsort · 25/09/2022 00:53
That’s what you’re getting from this thread?
Dollydea · 25/09/2022 00:46
So given the choice you'd want things to go back to living how the average woman did 50 years ago?
Manekinek0 · 25/09/2022 01:05
No, not just women. You don't have to be so belligerent.
Tsort · 25/09/2022 01:02
So, ‘yes’, then? To the questions asked? Grand, thank you.
Manekinek0 · 25/09/2022 00:59
In an ideal world, I’d have a yacht, a six pack and Jason Momoa on speed dial. What does your comment have to do with the questions in the OP, though?
My point is everyone is worse off. We had 2 full time roles, paid worker and homemaker. Now most families need 2 paid workers to get by and the homemaker role still needs to be done.
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GetRichOrDieTrying · 25/09/2022 01:08
What I’m getting from the thread is that you seem to be quite unhappy with where you currently are in life and hope that hearing about lots of others in the same boat may make you happier.
I can’t help on that front really, my parents and grandparents generation had pretty tough lives, with hard work, little money, and lots of early deaths.
By contrast I’ve had the opportunity to live in several countries and now have several beautiful houses and the services of nannys, gardeners, handymen and so on to make life easier.
There’s no way on Earth I could have found my job in Finance fifty years ago, or aspire to the sort of life that I and many of my friends now live.
Tsort · 25/09/2022 00:53
That’s what you’re getting from this thread?
Dollydea · 25/09/2022 00:46
So given the choice you'd want things to go back to living how the average woman did 50 years ago?
Namenic · 25/09/2022 01:07
@Tsort - I suppose it depends on what women want. Some people who want to be sahms might have it worse now? - because of high housing costs (no offence to sahms - if I had enough money, I would be sahp while kids were young - but still, no way would I want to go back to 50years ago).
I would guess that on average, men now do more housework than they did in the past. Overt sexism is less now. Less stigma for divorce. In what ways was it better 50 years ago?
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