Is working outside of the home beneath some women, and a burden that men should bear instead?

Question

I asked a question earlier regarding some women's attitudes toward being a homemaker.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AqgCjRqU.QoTE8F5xrLUGSbsy6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20080801111729AA0hPb4

It seems to me that SOME young women who aspire to be homemakers do so because they think it is a "get out of work free" pass. Many responded saying being a homemaker sure beats having to go to work because it is better than going to some dead-end job and getting yelled at. However, you must have income to survive, so someone has to go to that dead-end job to get yelled at. Do these women who feel this way toward work think working outside of the home is beneath them, and that it is a burden that men should shoulder?

Again, as with my other question, please note I am not calling homemakers lazy. As I said last time, I know some homemakers who work far harder than some people with jobs outside of the home, so please do not get defensive by treating this as an attack on homemakers, because it is not.

Answer 1

My wife wishes she didn't have to work, and I honestly wish she didn't have to.  It is an unfair burden on her for many reasons.  She misses the kids while she's at work.  She feels she hasn't enough control over what happens while she is not with them.  She is stressed out by the time she gets home.  Even though I do help her by cooking, doing laundry, giving the kids baths, taking them to the park, playing tennis, helping with homework, etc she still finds it very hard to relax from the stress of work and be there for the kids and for me...she's ready to pop at the drop of a pin.  She doesn't feel I spend enough time with them either, and a lot of that time that I don't spend with them is spent doing things that could be done during the day if one of us were home during the day.  It is not beneficial to children or to wives that it takes two incomes for most families to achieve a standard of living that includes running water, working heat, electricity, a bed to sleep on, a decent school and the ability to play outside without being shot.

Answer 2

Being a housewife does beat working in many jobs.  And if some women find the idea of staying at home more appealing than going out to work, why shouldn't they?  Someone has got to look after the kids, and if you don't do it yourself you have to pay someone else to do it, and what on earth is the point?  Why not look after them yourself, assuming that you haven't got some terribly thrilling career that you are loath to give up.

So long as they have husbands who can afford to support them, and don't mind doing it, then why not?  However, I imagine such men are rare nowadays.  Most modern men seem to have absorbed Betty Friedan's philosophy, that housework is a doddle and can be done in an hour or so, and that all women need jobs outside the home to keep them occupied and stop them making mischief.

As for this rather tedious obsession people nowadays have with working hard, is there any particular virtue in working hard when you don't have to?  why is it assumed that perpetual hard labour is the only thing that makes life meaningful?  In the past, if you didn't have to work then you didn't, it was as simple as that.  Whence comes this morbid modern obsession with work?

Answer 3

Some young women do seem to see it that way...as a get out of work free card.  

think there is a HUGE difference between a woman who want to SAH for the kids...and one who uses the kids as a scape goat.  

Answer 4

Wow.  You're really beating the proverbial dead horse here.

The majority of the answers were reasonable- they just didn't agree with you.

Women who don't work outside the home are called "stay at home moms."  People are always trying to start fights between them and the feminists on this forum.  The problem with that is that NO ONE CARES.  Working feminists have nothing against stay at home moms, and SAHMs have nothing against women who work.

  

Answer 5

I'm a man and practical matters dictate that in order to maintain financial stability when one income doesn't suffice ensures that both memebers of a marriage work; there's simply no reasonable way around it.  I've never met a man who insists that women shouldn't work.  Perhaps some "Patriarchy" delusion has placed this in the mind of women, but it's terribly obscure in this day and age.

Most men work because they need to put bread on the table; the exact same reason women work.  I've never, never encountered a working woman nor a man who has thought differently.  If I could find a woman to allow me to stay home and take care of life at home I'd be more than happy.

This hatred of men and Delusional Patriarchy business drives this insane divisiveness and consequently will result in the destruction of civilization.  In 2008 AD in the Western world, no reasonable human being could demand that women don't work, it's impractical and silly.

Feminism has caused normal women to become very paranoid based on false premises.  The vast, vast majority of men love women and love other people.  I don't know why feminists in 2008 AD continue this Patriarchy delusion.  There's simply no such organization in the common era.  The Patriarchy is an odd notion that feminists have created to allow women to use as the causal factor for their unhappiness.  The tragedy is that normative women fall for this rubbish and, thus, wind up hating men.

Answer 6

Yes I have to say I agree. In our society they want everyone to try and have a career, and measure your worth by how much money you make and hours you work because it generates more money.

They don't encourage people to do as little work as possible but spend the time building relationships, having fun,learning and studying etc because they want us to make money.  

Answer 7

Since quite a few women do work at home and caretake their children-it obviously is not beneath quite a few of us. As a matter of fact-some men work at home and caretake their kids-because their wife makes more money or they want to stay at home more than their wives.And after watching our mothers or fathers-some of us can't wait to be homemakers and others of us can't wait to work outside the home.

You're focusing on a few women or girls who answered a question on Yahoo-believe it or not there are also men who disrespect housewives-and actually say or imply that women who work at home are sitting around watching soap operas and eating bon-bons..so no wonder some girls or women think poorly of housewives-so do some boys and men.    

Answer 8

Working outside of the home is not beneath anyone. Those women that you're speaking of are just plain lazy. I suppose they do feel that it is the man's job to work outside the home, after all, someone has to do it.

I don't know any homemakers that work harder than some people with jobs outside of the home. I'm sure they exist but I don't know of any. Myself included. I do ,however, know some women that use it as a "get out of work free" pass and do nothing but sit on their butts all day. It's pretty sad.

I take care of my son, keep the house clean, make dinner, etc. but I do not feel that it is a "job". I do those things because I care about my family.  

Answer 9

This homemakers work harder then people who work saying is just c**p we say to make homemakers feel better. I don't think they have anything to be ashamed of, keeping a good home and raising kids is the most important job there is, but not the hardest, let's don't lie. If I was a stay at home husband for a woman, I'd take it seriously. like I always say, I'd have her drink in hand, and ask about her day, and do everything that it took to relax after a stress free day in the rat race. It seems to be some women who are house wifes, expect the man to ask about their day, after this poor sap as spend 10 hours in the modern viper infested work world.