Tags
antifeminism, chaos, economies, education, elitism, social justice, women
I keep reading these ridiculous reports, The State of the World’s Women, The World Economic Report, Gender Justice and Economic Equality. One thing that always jumps out at me is the complete disregard for women’s work, in fact, all these reports actually treat women’s work as if it were a Very Bad Thing that must be corrected by educating women and plugging them into the county’s economy and politics.
So what is women’s work? It’s whatever we happen to be doing at the time. Half this world’s labor comes from women, often unpaid, often unrecognized, often from women not formally educated in an Ivy League university. Women are working all over the world, some in agriculture, some in food preservation, some having babies, some raising children. Women are the keepers of culture, language, tradition, artisan skills, crafting, and the teachers of children. We are already scientists in kitchens where all the chemistry happens, in caring for the elderly, the sick, in healing often with few resources or supplies. We’re already practicing psychology, implementing math, leading people spiritually and politically. And women of course, get a pretty good education in biology, simply from leading our lives.
Without the work of women, the quality of our lives suffer. These skills that have to do with hearth and home and culture are not to be casually dismissed as the work of poor, uneducated, women who haven’t got any choice, but rather a phenomenal contribution to who we are as human beings, to civilization itself.
It’s somewhat sad to me, we tend to measure a country’s success by whether or not they have women in parliament, a female prime minister, formal education and employer provided maternity leave. The six million women quietly doing the traditional work of women, well they don’t even count. In fact they’re evidence of women’s oppression. They’re an embarrassment. Women only have value when they are engaged in jobs traditionally done by men and are receiving economic compensation for their labors, labors that really should not have much to do with the hands-on care of people, because people aren’t really where it’s at. That kind of work should fall on those who have little worth or value and really have nothing else to offer the world. People! Investing in people is perceived as the world’s slop work, something done by the uneducated because they have nothing more useful to do with themselves.
It’s no secret that if you get a job in banking, technology, or baseball, you will be compensated for it far more than you will if you get a job working in a pre-school or a nursing home. The world shows us what it values everyday in how it compensates people and it sure isn’t the people-work that gets recognized economically.
Last week I was watching a group of older women making soup. There’s a lot of skill required in making soup believe it or not, but that wasn’t it, it was the labor of love behind the soup that caught my attention, the motivation, the intent, the way the soup was being used as a vehicle to attend to people’s emotional, spiritual, psychological, social, and physical needs. We all know how comforting and warm soup can be, soup served in the company of people who care about you, who are willing to listen to you, who expect nothing in return, is simply the stuff of miracles. It’s not just about nourishing bodies, it’s about nourishing souls and warming spirits. No, no religious message my atheist friends, just some love for humanity served up in a bowl of soup.
That is the real work of women and it’s frequently unpaid work, but it has a value so vast that it cannot even be properly measured. That’s what some of the poor, uneducated, uncounted, women in my community were doing last week.
And those who have been properly and formally educated and taught a new narrative about where women’s value lies? Well, they were busy bullying a man to tears on twitter because of a shirt.
Victo Dolore said:
There are many women who are in the work force AND doing the other unpaid women’s work who do hold just as much value as those who don’t. I struggle with the fact that people feel there has to an extreme all one way view. Women shouldn’t have to all work. They also shouldn’t all have to stay home. We ALL hold value, no matter what the choice or the circumstance of that choice. My two cents worth.
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insanitybytes22 said:
I’ve always been in the work force at least part time. Hubby and I have had a good arrangement, he’s self employed. so he can come home and be with the kids when I go to work. Since the pressure has never been on me to make all the money, work is actually a pleasant pursuit, a break from children and teen agers. The problem comes when we start trying to chase two rabbits at once, feeling as if we are torn between work and home, because we simply cannot clone ourselves. What’s becoming more and more of a problem is that women are not being allowed to make the choice to stay home due to economic demands and the way our culture disparages that choice.
I guess it’s different in different parts of the country and among different economic groups, but in my neck of the woods “staying home” has never really been about staying home. In fact, mothers have been practically living in their cars for decades, shuttling people back and forth, picking berries, dropping off groceries for shut ins. There’s this whole community aspect to it that used to happen, but that’s changed now as more and more women are forced to go to work for financial reasons. The loss of those women as a driving force in the community (ha pun intended) has really had an impact.
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Victo Dolore said:
I would venture to say that most women who work do it for financial reasons, reasons that cannot be avoided. My opinion is that all women in the workforce, however, struggle with pull between home and work. I know I do. I do not understand why that has to be the case, though. Why can’t we allow women the flexibility to do both? They don’t have to be mutually exclusive except that employers make it so. There is tremendous pressure. On the other hand, the shuttling from one activity to the next phenomen is taken up by all women regardless of work status. When I tell a patient who is insisting she cannot exercise or prepare healthy meals for her kids because of time issues, I tell them to stop the activities. “Your kids need you, not soccer or dance or any of that.” Blink. Stare. Hell. I probably need to do a post on this.
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insanitybytes22 said:
LOL, yes you should do a post on that. It seems as if everybody these days is just too busy for…. our lives.
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Paul said:
There’s a lot of truth there IB. I guess when I encourage women to get an education and/or a career, what i am really saying is get yourself some freedom. If you want to raise a family you can with an education. If you want to spend some time without a family – you can. I’m not saying that the way women are treated as domestic engineers is right – it isn’t – and yet that said, the reality is that women’s choices are increased with a career/education. Their freedom is increased – in my mind.
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insanitybytes22 said:
“…what i am really saying is get yourself some freedom.”
I like education, life long learning, women thinking outside the box. What I don’t like is women, due to social and economic pressures, being taken out of their communities and parked in an office somewhere in the name of freedom.
You’re thinking “economic freedom” and I’m thinking of what so many of us in the US are really doing right now, “economic enslavement” where you just wind up on this treadmill to no where, working so you can pay bills so you can work so you can pay bills…
Ironically what the upper classes often do is try to work towards “freedom,” the freedom to have the money and resources to stay home and raise your children. It’s kind of an odd kind thing, often the education is secured so you can get a good job so you can earn enough money, so you can eventually…stay home with your kids. The problem is, women often run out of biological time when they chose this route. It takes a lot of time to secure an education, build a surplus of income, and at that point you’re often pushing 40 and now struggling to have children.
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Paul said:
OK, I see what you are saying, but is that really a statement about women’s rights or is it a statement about the current economic conditions? Your argument is exactly true for men as well. The level of disposible income (or income that is available to put aside and build up) continues to drop year over year. Men feel exactly that way as well – like they are on a treadmill – they work to,live and they live to work. Honestly I think that is because the majority of the wealth is being driven towards those who are already rich. More and more business decisions are made solely on how much profit can be increased – and that often means reducing payroll and/or benefits. for women and for men.
Which, indeed, leaves a Catch-22 : If anyone invests in education,they become indebted to the point where some of their freedom is restricted by the need to repay the educational cost.
Anyway, in a way IB, it’s like owning a car. The freedom available is enormous. But there is a cost which means you have to work to pay for it. Which reduces your freedom. I guess it all boils down to a personal choice – there doesn’t seem to be any pat answer that applies to all.
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insanitybytes22 said:
“I see what you are saying, but is that really a statement about women’s rights or is it a statement about the current economic conditions?”
Aren’t they the same thing? Women’s rights, if we’re talking about quality of life here, aren’t really being helped by the current economic downfall.
“Your argument is exactly true for men as well.”
Except not so much because of that biological clock. There’s some rather unique harms happening to women here, we’re being told to go out and get an education while we’re young, to invest in financial stability, to delay motherhood, and than women are often left with all this student debt, trying to have kids in their 40’s, and still having to work outside the home. That’s the current ideal for womanhood anyway, and I just question how much “freedom” there is in it?
Naturally it’s all about choice, but I wonder how much “choice” women really have when the entire role of motherhood is being disparaged and presented as something you should try to juggle or do in your spare time, as well as becoming less and less economically feasible for so many of us?
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kimberlyharding said:
i always enjoy reading your views. They make me think about what we take for granted in our dynamics, when everything in fact can be reviewed and thought of in new ways.
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Gale Molinari said:
Reblogged this on galesmind and commented:
Women need to be recognized for ALL their work and accomplishments. Not just those that earn a paycheck. Seems that things that are done with love aren’t valued. Only things that make money. Makes a sad commentary on our social values doesn’t it?
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DotedOn said:
🙂 Well said. And I wish I had a bowl of soup now, for all that it represents 🙂
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madblog said:
You’ve hit it out of the park! This is the obvious thing always overlooked…you are correct that “traditional women’s work” has been so devalued that it is now an embarrassment. What I wonder is how all the people who stand on the backs of the real working women, who take care of this absolutely necessary work, realize what happens if they achieve their aims and we all really stop?
It’s elitist to the core to carry on with your important career won from the patriarchy while disdaining the people who clean your home, cook your food, care for your kids, enculturate society…in other words, who keep the world running smoothly.
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madblog said:
Sharing this….
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insanitybytes22 said:
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it 😉
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ccchanel41 said:
I get confused sometimes when I read your posts. I think that you have good intentions and a good thought. But at times are contradictory. Why wouldn’t we want part of the measure of the success of our country to be our education system and it’s success?
Speaking from the POV of wanting women to be at home with their babies, why wouldn’t you want all companies to have mandatory maternity AND paternity leave for parents? I actually think it should be both.
One thing that confuses me is several times in the past, as well as in this post, you have been quite harsh on higher education, and I cannot figure out why. There is great access routes for higher education for everyone in the US. Ivy League, no. But State schools, community colleges..all of that is higher learning and everyone can take that opportunity to get a higher education if they want to. I wish I understood why you come across so bitterly about it. Is it because of the few feminists in the higher ranks that speak out in the ways they do that happen to have gone to some of these schools? I am sincerely asking because I think that, especially for women, higher education is often times a great opportunity to give them choices and a better life. It may not be for everyone but it is certainly a great avenue to approach.
I also think that if you ask most people, not necessarily a hard core feminist, but average Americans, you would find that they support whatever choices a woman wants to make. You would also find that most believe that men and women should share household duties and child rearing when living together. But, for women who enjoy this and want to do this, it is a choice that is theirs.
Most women, myself included, think that staying at home with a child is the hardest job you can do. As well as the most rewarding. I think what is often screamed out in social media at times is skewed from reality regarding this. Twitter can be one of those places.
CC
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insanitybytes22 said:
You’re always free to disagree with me, I still find you quite delightful 😉
“…you have been quite harsh on higher education…”
You’re right. That’s simply because I have been exposed to some of the dumbest people on the planet, who try to hide their ignorance behind their credentials. It’s not that I disagree with higher education, I just think it’s now becoming an excuse to no longer have to engage our brains anymore.
“Is it because of the few feminists in the higher ranks that speak out in the ways they do that happen to have gone to some of these schools?”
Yes, that too.
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ccchanel41 said:
hahaha…I find you delightful as well…and that is just Academia nuts….but that is not regular people. Ok, that is what I thought.
Just don’t just the whole by a few nuts. I would have run screaming from school had I judged it by my Professors… :0)
❤ -CC
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madblog said:
This is not to speak to the whole question re: IB’s comments on higher ed, but just to back up one thing. You asked, “Is it because of the few feminists in the higher ranks that speak out in the ways they do that happen to have gone to some of these schools? ”
Higher education today, it is no exaggeration to say, is almost 100% feminist-ized, and 100% politicized as well…My son is almost finished a Master’s in English Lit. Not Gender Studies, mind you. The whole of the program from start to finish is centered on the feminist political-social worldview. It is pushed relentlessly; it is everywhere. And tolerance for even casual traditional comment is gone the way of spats. Few feminists? They’ve won the culture war in higher education.
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ccchanel41 said:
@madblog, You raised a very valid point and one to which I cannot comment with direct knowledge because I am not in college. However, I know a Professor or two. One teaches online and would not engage in this type of discussion.
I have two daughters in college, one at a State school and one on community level. Neither really speaks of this or is interested in feminism. LOL….I sometimes gasp of them with having been raised by me.
Larger schools I do believe yes, you are right have a much more political persuasion and push with feminist students. However, college campuses have always been the place for political discussion and debate to take place.
There lies the question. When UC Berkely was protesting to have Bill Maher NOT come as their speaker this was troubling to many alumni and many others. Why? Because this school was always known as the place for debates like this to take place. If students wanted to protest him being there then it would have been the protocol for them to do so…not to demand he not come.
That is troubling about higher institutions such as this, although not directly related to feminism. But I do not see all of the changes on college campuses or debates such as surrounding for instance, college rape a bad thing…I see some of it such as the contracts and texting, over the top…but the discussions it has shaken up a good thing.
So you have valid points. Very valid. I have a Tumblr, so I see what a lot of college age kids ON Tumblr are saying and with that you would be correct re: colleges. Twitter I find disturbing all around. Feminism I have many issues with myself. I just think discussions, like this one…this back and forth..are much more positive in nature..getting to know different people…than only talking to one set group.
Long answer sorry, but yes, I can see you have a valid point that your son’s class probably had that as a part of curriculum.
It just gets colluded to me when I hear women especially tell me they have taken over. I can’t climb that fence yet. I do see the problems with it.
Thank you though for that answer. I have sons as well. I like to see equality for everyone. Dignity and respect for all people. That was a good point. -CC
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ccchanel41 said:
*judge….I should not reply with my eyesight and migraines…see I have delightful quirks you are right… cue my quirkiness level one notch and hand me some soup 😉
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Rebecca LuElla Miller said:
Here in California there’s the beginnings of a push toward mandatory pre-school–take the children away from their parents at the most crucial developmental years and put them into the hands of state-trained professionals. It’s the oddest thing. Women who choose to stay home with their own children are disparaged for it, but those who choose to stay with the kids or strangers are being pushed forward. Because rarely do you see men working in pre-school. Wonder why that is. 😉
Becky
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insanitybytes22 said:
Isn’t that disconcerting? Taking kids away from perfectly good parents and putting them in state run pre-school is just like another nail in the coffin of parenting. We not only doubt (primarily) women’s ability to raise toddlers, we now doubt your qualifications to even do it properly.
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Eric said:
IB2:
Good post. I also get tired of hearing feminists (and Gamers) depreciating the value what women do to run a home. If one considers that cooking, laundering, nursing, and educating a family would be considered Skilled Labor in the job market, the whole stuff about ‘demeaning work’ can be seen for what it really is.
Now I’m hungry for soup….
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rebeccaalene said:
I wish I could LOVE this instead of like it. ❤ I love it all. Why am I a lesser woman because I stay home with my children? Why do others make me feel like I'm letting my sex down by not getting out into the workforce? Is it wrong to love my role as wife, mother, housekeeper, chef, homework-helper, chauffeur, friend, sister and daughter? Yes, it's a traditional role but it's no less important than anything else. I'm raising our future generations. That seems like a big deal to me.
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