I've also been watching the show Mrs. America on Hulu. The program tells the story of the counter-feminist movement of the 1970s and mainly focuses on the conservative author, Phyliss Schlafly. The program paints feminists as heroes and conservative women as a bunch of hypocrites. No surprise there. However, it does bring up a lot of interesting discussions of the role of women in our society. In the program and in many Hollywood endeavors (I grew up desiring to be Melanie Griffith in Working Woman), women don't find their actualization until they find meaningful employment. Working women are satisfied with their lives, while housewives are desperate and unfulfilled, is often how it is portrayed by Hollywood. Aw, to be Carrie Bradshaw walking down New York City with expensive clothes and shoes with no kids or husband. That is life! Is it though?
Or we tell women you can have everything! You can have the marriage, career, kids. True. But one thing Phyliss Schlafly points out in the show is that, yes, women can have those things but they may come in seasons. There will be a time when you are super-focused on the family. There will be a time when you're super-focused on a career. But that's not what ardent feminists want to hear. Women must be focused on their careers all the time!
Society often tells young women marriage and motherhood can wait, focus on career goals. But isn't it also true a career can wait? Do employers stop employing women after 40? Do colleges not enroll 40-year-old women? People are living well into their 80s these days, it is totally feasible to start a career at 35 and work 30 or 40 years. So why is it that family has to wait for women?
Men and women both have choices when it comes to family and career. I recognize no choice is easy. But I think it is good to have a realistic discussion about these things, not a Hollywood fantasy.
