The argument feminists make against SAHMs is that they are relying on their husbands to take care of them and their children, basically giving up their earning potential (i.e., power) and quite possibly placing themselves in jeopardy should the relationship not work out. If the husband decides to leave his wife, who was a SAHM for say 20 years, then she'd be stuck looking for a job without the benefit of years of office work experience; competing with younger people; and earning lower wages that other mothers who had stayed in the job market and accumulated earning potential each year. In other words, the feminists argue that if that SAHM had instead worked for 20 years and then got a divorce, she'd be in a better place financially.
But when one chooses to be a SAHM, it's really about placing family first. Perhaps the parents prefer not to have their children raised by strangers - like a nanny or day care. To me, the opinion above is rather divisive and somewhat anti-family. Way back when, individuals survived because they were part of a family that was INTERDEPENDENT: the father figure earned income/worked the farm, the mother gave birth to children and took care of the household plus also farmed, and the children were responsible for taking care of the household chores and also tending to farming duties or earning additional income to support the family unit. Men, women and children NEEDED one another in order to merely survive.
But in modern day, men can do their own housework, laundry, cooking, etc. Women can also earn income and do difficult manual labor. Teens these days aren't contributing much to the house, have jobs of their own, and they hang out with peer groups instead of with siblings and enjoying meals with their family unit. We don't need to be so interdependent any more to survive. The USA prides itself on Americans' "rugged individualism." Which is good and bad. Hence, high divorce rates and high numbers of unmarried men and women in their 30's and older! As for me, I put my faith in God and in the wonderful man I married that our marriage and family will survive.
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Originally Posted by r8rpwr
I think there are a lot of ways to define the term, and this leads to its misunderstanding.
I'm all for feminism in the sense of equal opportunity. And by the way, this includes the opportunity to choose something that the hard core "feminists" might disapprove of. Like becoming a SAHM. Some would say that's an affront to feminism. I disagree, because isn't making your own choices for your own life an empowering thing?
I have a great job, in fact I earn about 2 times as much as my husband. Feminism made it possible for me to accomplish that (well, feminism and also a heck of a lot of hard work on my part!). However, I am not a burn the bra man hater. There's a difference.
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