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This thread is about the article "I Am Woman "
Twenty first century woman
onAmission | 09:09 | 18.05.2012
I'm not sure about jam making and knitting when you have had an expensive education. Do it as a hobby but you owe the nation and society a debt that should be fulfilled. If women get educated and then go back to being home makers, I think it will take us back to precisely where we were 50 years ago. I know an academic who nurtured a woman through a Phd, spending time and effort, only for her to graduate and become a home maker. She is perfectly happy and has the right to that choice but it has resulted in that particular academic being reluctant to vest energy in another female candidate. That could be a dangerous precedent.
Wobi | 14:02 | 18.05.2012
OnAmission - how come we dont apply that rule to men? The logical extension of your argument implies that to be entitled to an education women must make use of it in the outside world. Even from your example - why cant we ensure a system where both women are entitled to their PhD - why one over another?
onAmission | 15:09 | 18.05.2012
There is only one woman in my example. All I'm saying is that after availing of an expensive education, this young woman chose to stay at home. Some one else could have availed of that opportunity as is the case with Rita Feria, whose picture accompanies this article. It's a total waste of a seat particularly in medicine if you don't use it afterwards. Actually I don't think men have a choice. They are expected to work and do. It's women who have the choice and I think it is a misuse of that choice if you avail of an education and then don't use it.
Wobi | 15:35 | 18.05.2012
I availed an education and give up work take care of my child. Should I have been uneducated because of the choice I would go on to make??! Is raising a child not worthy enough an activity? Does my worth depend on what I do in the job market and nothing more??
onAmission | 17:54 | 18.05.2012
I have no problem at all with women taking time off work to look after their kids. But to get an education and not use it at all bothers me. I'm particularly bothered when I see young, educated girls planning their lives around their boy-friend's careers. See where he goes and what he does, then make your plans! Also, we don't know what's going to befall us - divorce, death, partner losing job. I have seen enough women struggle to get back to work when tragedy befalls them. Women have to be self-sufficient and be able to look after themselves and their dependent kids. That's what I would want for my children.
Wobi | 21:31 | 18.05.2012
So your premise is that to be valuable women have to work. Housework is not proper work and raising children, while important, is not proper work either. So all those mothers who raised good citizens are completely useless and didnt deserve an education. Seems rather extreme to me. :-)
Al.E.Cat | 21:41 | 18.05.2012
Why is there be a bigger pressure on women to use her education in the workforce (as opposed to her home)? What about men who have an expensive education, say a Phd in material physics and decides to give it up to start a cupcake business? Is that putting an education to good use? Most people would admire the man for daring to be so path breaking. Why isn't it the same for a woman who chooses to be a home maker?

I would certainly like to see women become self-sufficient, as you say - onAmission - especially financial independence but that's the same as my expectations for men. I don't think women owe any special debt to society just because they get a good education. Women make choices to be home makers for a variety of reasons. It takes us back to think that only those women who are in the workforce are doing something useful.

Sunshine | 22:06 | 18.05.2012
I think the author is making a point precisely on the issue of OnAmission's comment. Somehow jam making and knitting are less valuable than being a career lady. It doesnt matter whether you do it as a hobby or whatever because it will never be equal to being a career lady. OnAmission's comment clearly reveals this - to be successful women must be employed. Nothing else they do matters. Even if they are successful mothers, wives, daughters-in-law, it doesnt matter. The only thing that matters is that they have a job. If they dont get a job then they wasted their lives and education.

Like Wobi I too feel that this is an extreme position. We each owe a lot to the women in our lives who have helped us get here. I dont think there is any job more important than being a parent. And if we put career women ahead of our own mothers, grandmothers and aunts, I think not just our education but our lives have been wasted.
Grand Poohbah | 04:47 | 19.05.2012
It seems to me that the 'stay-at-home' parent (man or woman) is generally regarded as less than equal to the earning partner. I know a well educated man who turned homemaker when his wife's career took off having to deal with people who were really uncomfortable about the choice he'd made - ensuring stability for his children as the family moved around. Individuals stay at home from choice or necessity - does it matter; lets not judge...

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