For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for September 05, 2010

Monkey see, monkey do. She was expecting maybe Gloria Steinem?

Give her time. She’ll learn.

In other words, mind your own business, Elly!

Isn’t the right to choose your path the goal of the feminist movement? Or, is the feminist movement just a pile of ….?

Gloria and Betty had it right. Women don’t HAVE to be mothers. Six billion aren’t enough. Voluntary restraints on childbirth before we have government restraints like China. Survival of species isn’t necessarily reproduction.

Feminism and overpopulation aside, Lewreader, is there some way for a species to survive other than reproduction?

Nabuquduriuzhur: Bitter much?

Housewife is a career choice, too

I’ve never liked the term, Housewife. The woman married the man not the house.

Mrs. Goaler and I share the work of “keeping house”; our son thought cooking and cleaning was “people’s work”, not “woman’s (or man’s) work”!

Ditto, keeping house is a joint effort!

wndrwrthg haven’t seen you in a while! Good to hear from you! The old Sock Puppets are visiting the Espanol Mutt & Jeff page.

Isn’t she just imitating what her mommy does? I agree with howtheduck where Lizzie is being “feminist” (I hate that label) by standing up for what she wants to do. To me, it’s not feminist to work as a doctor or lawyer and not have children, or conversely, it’s not “anti-feminist” to stay at home taking care of your family. It’s feminist to recognize that you have choices and to make the choice that’s best for you and your loved ones.

Wow, Nabuquduriuzhur. While I didn’t grow up in the Pacific Northwest, I’ve never encountered what you’re describing. Gen X women were (hopefully) taught that they can do whatever they set their mind to, and for most of us, it worked great. I don’t think that teachers had anything to do with it. It’s usually what you’re taught at home that defines most what you turn out to be.

i’ve lived in the PNW for many years. i don’t know what what nab is talking about. the women i have met here are some of the most well-adjusted people i have met, excellent at balancing family and work life. They rock.

@Scaaty423: I don’t think the human species is in any danger of dying out due to lack of reproduction.

@Howtheduck: You’re right. Johnston isn’t (and has never been) as good at good at social commentary as some others, like Wiley or Trudeau for example.

@ Bildi: I never know what Nabuqui(etc) is talking about

Lizzie will change her career later on; at this point her path is wide open.

I find it funny when people are happy with being able to choose something, yet don’t like it when others don’t make the same choice they did.

WebSpider said: I’ve never liked the term, Housewife. The woman married the man not the house.

Agreed. I’ve always preferred the expression “Domestic Goddess” myself!

I can’t imagine going back to the days I remember when bright young women were excluded from professional schools and relegated to child care, cooking and cleaning. Today girls know they can be what they choose to be and do what they choose to do. Elly wants to open doors in Lizzy’s mind, and that’s a good thing. She is just trying too early.

Most mothers will need to work to help support their families because one wage earner can no longer provide a middle-class standard of living for a family . So being “just a housewife” is really not an option today as it was for Elly.

And since so many marriages end in divorce and/or abandonment, a woman has to be able to support herself and her children. I learned that the hard way, and I have no regrets. Elly’s doing the right thing – but she needs to let Lizzy be just a little tot for a while.

People of the world, RELAX!!!!

The feminist movement and the music industry didn’t really mesh. It still is a man’s world, however if you play a mean guitar and have looks, then you do well. Not much liberation there.

2 things I’ve always wondered:

1) How is it fair for women to have a choice to work or stay home when men don’t have a choice? I always thought that the end goal of the women’s movement was for women & men to be equal in the home & workplace, which would preclude women staying at home any longer.

2) How do SAHMs and homemakers get spending money (unless they have a part-time job)? If they want to buy clothes or food (that’s not for their husband or kids) or a book or CD or whatever for themselves? Their husband may be paying the mortgage & the utilities & the kids’ expenses, but how could they, for example, buy their husband a birthday present if they don’t have any income? it would be frightening, not to mention humiliating, not to have a penny of one’s own. It strikes me that you’d have to have savings or a trust fund of your own to stay at home.

Spammerflaggen!

Rowena28 said: How is it fair for women to have a choice to work or stay home when men don’t have a choice?

Who says men don’t have a choice to work or stay home? I know plenty of men who chooose to stay home with the kids and mom goes to work. As has been mentioned previously, today most families don’t have the luxury of either parent staying at home.

Hey Nabuq – last time I checked (and I teach this stuff) the 1950’s were busy making sure women stayed OUT of the work force (post WWII, soldiers returned to their jobs, women went back home).

60’s were the time women learned that they could work, had some rights (like the right to own property in Louisiana (1961).

No “teacher” I ever knew taught women or men to take drugs, live on welfare, or “do anything you want.” I seem to remember that came out of the drug culture started by the VietNam War – not school.