What do you think about housewives and feminism?

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I like dolls and the color pink. Does that make me not a feminist? I get angry, offended or feel threatened when a guy says something vulgar or sexist to us. And then the guy accuses us of having no sense of humor. But we've just been the target of his idea of a joke. Does that make me a feminist?

I don't get it, and the more I hear other people's "explanations", the even less I get it.

The causation is probably both sides; egg or chicken matter

For things to really change and get balanced in the workplace; housedad should become a social norm and a real alternative choice for men.

I bet it's the case everywhere
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/09/07/up ... &referrer=

Last edited by The_Face_of_Boo on 04 Jul 2015, 3:16 am, edited 1 time in total.

Feminism is a mess of people who say they are for equality but none of them agree with each other and there are more arguments within the movement than there are out of it with non feminists. Feminism just causes arguments.

I know a housewife....she is a pretty cool person. She just feels she is better at being an at home person..takes care of chickens, cooks, cleans and was managing a garden though that has been struggling some because she was going to school for a little while and didn't have as much time. She does other random sort of work around the property, but she is mostly a stay at home wife...I respect her quite a bit compared to many people I have met. And she is who and what she is by choice, pretty cool person...so I don't see what the issue is...it works for her and her husband.

There are too many disjointed types of feminism, aiming to be subversive from their own perspective. Some will acknowledge that choice and options are key equality factors in the the modern housewife's decision to stay at home.
Others will be pernickety, as their definition of feminism does not accommodate such a traditional decision, even if the woman freely chooses it.

You and your husband made this decision together aiming to create a better life for you and your kin, I imagine you achieved that; a progressive outcome which is not in sync with the agenda of some radical sub-sets of feminism... Oh well, you can't please everyone .

And all them will claim to be the "real feminists" and hate any of the others. That "oh no you don't like the other feminists but you'll like us". f**k the entire movement and their contradictions, I do not care for all this complicated s**t. Apparently that makes me sexist. But supporting feminism also is sexist. Everyone is sexist. f**k you can't win.

If a "feminist" tries to give you advice from "feminism" just ignore it is the general rule.

Actually I lied...I know two house-wifes...though one does not have a proper husband, but shes kicked a lot of riff raff out of her house. Her and a couple friends still smoke meth, but hey...i am not there to judge and they don't do it all the time, but shes turned around a lot kicked out a lot of random f***kers and only has people over anymore who will respect her house. But yeah she mostly lives at home, keeps stuff clean though everyone living ther is expected to do their part. And these are random hispanic friends me and my dad just randomly met. ANd not to stereotype, but they really seem to value friendship much of the time more than white people. I mean its like I have not gone over and seen any of them for months and I show up for a quick visit and they are glad to see me like genuine.....not used to that from most white friends I've had...its like you make a good impression and you are family, at least with me and my mostly white family...though we have a little native blood.

Y'know, it reminds me of something a friend of mine told me. She (we'll call her G) and I were in the same course, but she had already done a BA in Fine art before we met. When G was a fine art student, her classmates were shocked to realize that she was hoping to be a stay at home mother and they belittled her decision, saying that she was being brainwashed by the patriarchy to be subservient to men. Isn't that so patronising? Telling women that you know what's best for them is not good feminism.

I think this is something I see a lot in radical feminism, in that choices aren't empowering enough to them. To radical feminists, it seems that you are only liberated if you follow a strict set of rules and guidelines and if you ever violate those rules, you are harming all women everywhere. It really does operate like a cult.

It just goes to show you that even feminists can have trouble agreeing with each other (which is to be expected, as with any ideology).

You know, she probably made a good decision there. Not a whole lot you can do with a Fine Art degree. Virtually useless, really.

I have no issue with housewives if that's really what they want to do. If the husband would rather do it then that's fine too. All-in-all, it's better for a parent to be at home with the kids at all times until they're about 4-5 years old. When I was little it was my dad who was often home for me and my sisters, but after he went back to school then my mom would be home during the day while my dad was out and then my dad would be home at night while my mom was at work. It's still that way now, except during the summer (my dad's a teacher). It probably helped since between me and my friends from high school, I was probably the only one in a (relatively) stable family.

Now, if the woman is being forced to stay home and have kids she doesn't want, then that's different. Abuse, actually, if I remember correctly.

I dunno. Her mother was a lecturer at the college at one point and a lot of my friends who did do fine art got into teaching, curation, setting up their own studios and so on. I think the fine art world is often quite insular, but somehow they seem to find work. I can't really criticize because even though I have a Bachelor of Design, I'm often doing the digital equivalent of holding up a sign that says "Will dance 4 fud". But yeah, she's more interested in using her skills to be an art therapist or some sort of teacher or child mentor until she and her boyfriend are financially stable enough to have children. I think that's a solid plan. I don't hate children, personally, but I don't like them nearly enough to handle their screaming and clean up their excrement. I have to say that anybody that wants to rear children is brave. I wouldn't touch that stinky diaper!

I agree with your statement - if you have two parents in the household, they should decide on roles for each of them. That might mean that the dad has to stay with the kids if mum has a better paying job or they just decided that they like it better this way. Not all parents have that luxury as sometimes there is simply no way that one income is enough if the parents are on minimum wage, but if you can afford it, certainly go for it.

Yes, I think most of us would agree that forcing someone to have children and stay at home with them is wrong. Well, I'd like to think so.

They are in a way their own government with 2 parties like democrats and republicans only they all are the same party and argue with themselves non stop.

If you want to be a housewife then go ahead. I believe if a female wants to be a housewife then she has every right to be one.

I am a male and all for equal rights but against over compensation/repairations, and I see nothing wrong with a woman or man in a relationship staying home while one works. In gay couples there isn't a man and a woman so the tasks just get divided in half or by who stays at home/works salary. Why not make it the same for a straight couple? Lots of guys play "Mr.Mom" so why should a woman be shamed for domestic work?

Liking dolls and pink has nothing to do with feminism. (If you thought girls should like dolls and pink, that would be another matter.)

Objecting to sexist jokes, on the other hand, definitely means you're a feminist.

I think your life choices and views on feminism make perfect sense. I see no contradiction. I'm an aspiring historian with a focus on gender issues and I can tell you that traditional feminine roles and being in charge of decision making in a family are by no means mutually exclusive. A certain branch of feminism seems to regard traditional masculine roles as more valuable than traditional feminine roles but other types of feminism argue that we should in fact value feminine roles. I think that we do a disservice to women everywhere when we assume that femininity is equated with lower status and I think that this kind of thinking is actually counterproductive and promotes a gendered hierarchy that values masculine roles over feminine roles. The goal of feminism should not be to turn everyone into men, but to allow people to choose their role in life--whether masculine or feminine or a combination of both.