Recently the National Organization for Women began to push an agenda that asked the compelling question: How can society better support mothers and caregivers so that they can choose to work either outside or inside the home – whether it’s full or part time – without additional guilt, financial strife or other barriers?
Traditionally, many stay-at-home wives and mothers have felt denigrated by the organization that should have been supporting them. After all, the right to work, the right to make choices are just that – the right of the individual wife, mother and couple. Many women choose to work or devote their time to organizations outside the home because they want the challenge. Some choose to stay home because they want to devote their time and their energy to their families and their children.
Ultimately, there is no one size fits all for women or families or anyone. My generation has been trained to fight for our right to work and our right to do as we please; but by that same token – we were taught and educated that choosing to stay at home is to go backwards, to give up on our opportunities and to be less than we can be.
Society Needs to Respect a Couple’s Choices
That’s right – a couples’ choices. Most women who elect to stay at home or go to work do so in conjunction with their husband’s contributions to both the decision and to the household. Currently, NOW lobbies for regulations of family friendly policies in business, government funding for early childhood education and giving stay at home moms greater access to entitelment programs.
Most women respect other women and their choices. It’s not a matter of who is doing it better or whether their choices are better or why they make their choice to begin with. There’s plenty of social evidence out there to support both sides of the argument – what we need are more women and wives uniting together to educate society.
Join the Lobby
The National Organization for Women should be for all women and not just women who want to be politically active or working outside the home. I read a statement a long time ago and I don’t remember who said it – but the advice works really well and I think it applies here. We’ve talked about the fight between the stay at home moms/wives and career moms and wives. We’ve talked about the viewpoint society takes and the fact that this conundrum confronts every family.
To help make sure the agenda meets your needs and your family, join NOW. Whether you are a career wife, a stay-at-home wife, a business entreprenuer or a freelancer selling personal services from home via your computer – the best way to make sure we’re all represented is for all of us to be a part of it.
I like being a Stay-At-Home mom. I do work. But I do the majority of my work from my home so that I have the flexibility to be with my daughter. My husband is 100% in support of this idea – if we were financially able, I would cut back on my work to only doing what I enjoy and to maintain the mental stimulation because it is my personal opinion that there is nothing more that I would rather be doing than taking care of my family – my husband and my daughter.
In twenty years, when she is grown – who knows – I may want to become a CEO of a multinational corporation or become a best-selling novelist – but that’s the point. It’s my choice. It’s my husband’s choice. NOW is there for me and I want to be there for them – make changes from within – that’s our choice too.
What can you do to help women and wives succeed in their own choices?
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