Modern women are unhappy
May 27th, 2009Some good thoughts from Owen Strachan, interacting with a New York Times column by Ross Douthat about modern women being liberated and unhappy.
Here’s a quote from Owen:
Indeed, the line that talented women only do justice to their gifts through full-time work is a myth, nothing more. Full-time mothering involves skills and tasks too numerous to mention and almost too varied to believe. In a traditional home, women may well assume some burden for education, requiring a fast and flexible mind. They must solve countless domestic problems. They must engage in significant moral formation each day, handling challenging ethical situations. They must budget well. They have to plan. The sheer amount of planning alone in the life of a young wife and mother is staggering and took a young, naive husband by surprise early in my marriage.
So the cultural line that draws so many women out of the home and into the workplace is just plain silly. God made women complex, highly nuanced, multitalented, and the demands of the home call for just such an individual, one who can manage many tasks at once, negotiate the shifting moods and needs of a child, and provide emotional and physical support for a husband. The home is not too small for a woman; it is almost too large for her (and men, so adept at various forms of work, are simply no match for it, as the briefest of motherly absences abundantly proves).
I appreciate these words so much. I’ve heard of some mothers who justify their decision to work full-time by saying things like, “But I feel like I’m especially gifted …” which, in essence, is saying that stay-at-home mothers are not especially gifted. I beg to differ.
Hat tip: Challies