STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

I know what you mean. I wonder where all this talk of being a SAHM comes from? Of course it's fine and all that, but it seems like all of a sudden, it's what every woman wants. When did that happen? When we were little, we all wanted to be astronauts or teachers or something like that. I wonder what the point is where "what I want to be when I grow up" stops being a career and starts being more domestic?

I wonder if men ever get mad that women have this option available to them and men don't? Of course it can work out that way, but it's rare and it's not as acceptable as it is for women.

It's a curious topic and I'm always intrigued by everyone's response to it. That said, I've seen the Real Wives of the OC and I'm slightly addicted to it already. It's crazy! But what strikes me about the show is the desperation of the women. They are desperate to keep up the status quo and desperate to keep their husbands happy. There was one wife who started randomly crying and obsessing about losing her husband. (He asked her to get a boob job once she started looking old.) I look forward to the day when my financial burdens will be lessened slightly by the addition of an income but I could never imagine myself being dependent on someone else's income to buy groceries, much less support my shopping habit.

I think it was leah leanna who it it on the head in another post.  She said she calls the current generation of kids "The Entitlement Generation."  My guess is a lot of the yougner girls want someone to provide for them without having to give something back.  Instead of making the transition to self-sufficient adulthood, they want to move from having parent-as-caretaker to husband-as-caretaker.  TV depicts being a housewife as an easy, chore-free, responsibility-free existence.  They want a man who will buy them nice things.

I think younger girls today don't want responsibility.  Maybe parents today aren't encouraging responsibility.  It seems like a lot of pre teens and teens do have everything handed to them, and expect that life will be that way forever.  I think that college would help them get over it.

Also, I think a lot of the TV shows and the cult of celebrity in this country glorifies a superficial existence.  More so than it did when I was a teenager (I'm 27 now). Maybe I'm out of it, but doesn't it seem like the teen idols (Lindsay Lohan & Co., and Paris Hilton) are terrible role models that perpetuate the idea of a shallow, superficial existence?  I mean, Paris Hilton is famous just because she's rich.  She doesn't *do* anything.  And young girls look up to her. 

I would hope it's temporary, and that once they learn more about what real life is like, they'll grow out of it. 

that's funny you bring this up.  a couple of months ago there was a story on the local news about this.  it interviewed younger girls and women just graduating college and a lot of them voiced this same desire. 

my bf and i saw the real housewives of orange county and we were laughing at how ridiculous it is. 

i guess watching it i felt super lucky that i had such a great female role model in my life.  my mom taught me that i can have my cake and eat it too.  i just wish that younger generations would realize that you can have both.  you just have to be creative. 

i know i've said this before, but my mom worked and had kids and we never saw a day care center.  that's part of the reason why i chose to go into nursing.  my mom worked nights (part time when we were little) as a nurse, and now works full time.  she has a great fullfilling career and well-adjusted kids.  i know that nursing is not for everyone, but it's a great option, especially since you can do so much with a nursing degree (do nursing law, teach, work at different kinds of clinics...).  heck, i'm entertaining the idea of working at a laser hair removal place part time so that i can have it all (ok, never having to shave isn't having it all, but it's a step closer ). 

i think we just need to teach kids how to be creative about it. 

There's a facebook group at my school called "Can't I Just Major in How to Be a Good Housewife?"

And I quote..."Who needs Psychology, English, Criminal Justice, Technology, Communications, or any other crazy majors when we just want to bake cookies and love our future husbands all day!"

It drives me crazy. Why are you wasting all this money to have a college degree when you will never use it? Are you really just going to school to find someone to marry??

I have nothing against SAHMs, but it's one thing to decide in your late 20s or 30s, and another to have that plan before even going to college. Really, what's it for? And do your parents know?

this is interesting.  when i was in school i studied education, and read a lot of arguments that essentially said a college was essentially created as a finishing school for the upper echelons (sp) of society. and pretty much became a feeder for higher paying/prestigious professions.  as more and more people got wise to the system, they began sending their kids to college. nowadays a college education is pretty much the minimum standard for most jobs.

i think some of the fascination with being a housewife is a reflection of what's going on in our society in that more and more people realize that going to college doesn't really mean that much. (i'm not talking about the the things you *learn* or the overall experience, but just in terms of the idea that if you go to school you will get a high paying job). and for most people you don't actually learn marketable skills in college. (i have a degree from a liberal arts school and can honestly say very few of my "marketable" were learned in the classroom -- not that i regret getting my degree, b/c i don't. but that's just the way it is.)

so in that sense i kind of understand the desire to not work, b/c the whole system can just be very frustrating and seem so worthwhile. you do all this work b/c it's supposed to improve your life, and you still end up in a crappy job that doesn't pay much. and if you're a woman you get double the work, b/c you have to have a 9-5 and then come home and keep house. if those are the only options (and for many people they are) i'd take a rich husband and a life of leisure anyday.

that being said, i want to do more with my life than be some guy's wife (this is an oversimplification of course) so i can't really get down with the whole desperate housewives thing. but i do wish we could go back to the day were we emphasized education for the sake of education, and didn't feed kids this idea that college is supposed to improve your life from a purely monetary perspective.