Gender Roles

I'm strangely okay with being a woman who stays home with her children.

Amidst an awkward conversation I participated in recently, I was informed that women are responsible for the tank in the economy. Yes, you read that right. Because we want all the men's jobs.

It's not the stock market crash or even the world wars that have devastated and reshaped the American economy over the years, it was the Women's rights movement. 

What the what?!?

I wont dignify the conversation with a replay, but summed up: if women just did what they're supposed to do and left the world of business and politics to men, everything would be just dandy! 

Superficially, this sincere argument, which he wholeheartedly believed in, irked me a little; being a highly intelligent and capable woman, but deep within, it brought me to the legitimate question of gender roles and my place in this big ole world. 

I look at my husband, a physically stronger human who excels at difficult and mundane tasks I would have no desire to do, which he tackles with ease. Then, I observe my ability to multitask efficiently and accomplish intricate and delicate matters, he would surely bungle. God didn't make man to be alone, we're supposed to be a team. Everyone is different, and we all have strengths and weaknesses. I'm good at taking care of kiddos, so I happen to fall into that stereotypical woman role, I guess.

I chose to quit the workforce, with the support of my husband, whenever we brought our first child into the world. I didn't chose this because it's easy, or because it's "my place" to do it. According to this man, I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing, but according to certain familial authorities in my life, I'm wasting away my time and should be sending my kids to daycare and participating in the workforce and playing my role in society instead.

Women's rights movements, from what I remember in history class, have made it their ultimate goal to attain financial equality in the workplace as their male counterparts. I guess my point here is, what about a woman's "right" to stay home with her children, before they begin their formal education? Is it really too much to ask, to be the one to hold your child whenever they've scraped their knee, or had their feelings hurt? Or to be the one to properly correct inappropriate behaviors that if gone unchecked will become unhealthy patterns as they grow older? 

I'm not sure anyone has the perfect answer to these questions, but I do know what I AM doing... I'm doing whatever needs to be done, and is in my power to do, to the best of my ability. 

Right at this moment, that means toilet training, encouraging an excitement to learn and instilling a healthy respect for authorities into my small children. I may not be conquering a mountain or changing the course of history, but I'm rocking this mom thing! I love my place in this world!

~"Whatever you do, do it with all your heart, as unto the Lord and not unto men." Colossians 3:23,
Delanie