Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for October 05, 1980

Transcript:

Joanie: It's hopeless. There's not a chance I'll have this ready by tomorrow. Maybe a snack and a quick nap would help. I can't do it. I'll never finish this brief in time. I've been reading the law for six years now and I'm still no good at it. I swear, J.J, sometimes I think I'd go back to being a homemaker if I weren't even more incompetent at that. J.J: Sure you would, Mother. Joanie: You're right, I wouldn't. But it's become such a no-win situation. If a woman tries to make it outside the home, she feels pressured and guilty. But if she stays home she feels inadequate and resentful. Sometimes I think life was easier back in the old days. The one thing women don't have anymore is their sense of fatalism, their acceptance of a certain lot in life, even if that lot was pure drudgery. In a way, that was comforting. You know what I mean, honey? J.J: Not really. Guess you had to have been there. Joanie: Good. J.J: I just can't relate to it. It's like when Grandma talks about the Depression.