One of my favourite daily reads, Girl With A Satchel, today posted a telling article by Dr Karen Brooks, which considers if the current wave of "retro chic" is regressive to the feminist movement previous generations fought so hard for.
Did Germaine Greer & co set modern women up for a fall? No, according to the article. Someting just got lost in translation. Germaine reckons she never told women to get a career, merely a life.
But we can't agree on what kind of life that should be. Career mums have to defend their choice (or lack thereof) and continually reassure that they are just as caring as stay-at-home mums. Stay-at-home mums have to justify to society why that's "all" they do, as well as avoiding admitting to inevitable feelings of insignificance and isolation. According to the article, the smaller percentage of women who appear to revel in being a domestic goddess find it hard to keep the fact to themselves, much to the chagrin of others. Despite fulfilling the nostalgic ideal society is pining for, is this because they still feel the need to reassure themselves and others that their choice is "correct"?
Can we ever get it right? No. Are we too hard on ourselves? Yes. Dr Brook's article espouses the common sense approach of respecting and supporting each other's choices and situations, regardless of the subersive putdowns a "femeny" might direct at you. Bitch.
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