"The New Wife" according to the New York Post

[Taualumna]

Originally posted by Lady Pi Phi
I don't know where you went to school but they didn't abolish family studies in the 1970's. I took it in grade 7 and 8 and I was in elementary school in 1990's.

No, my school got rid of Family Studies (the school called it Household Arts) in the 1970s. Family Studies was in the provinical curriculum, but it didn't have to be taught. I went to BSS in Toronto.

[mu_agd]

Originally posted by Lady Pi Phi
I don't think that's true in Canada. Maybe within her school boared, but not in Toronto.

I took family studies (home ec) in grade 7 and 8. Many highschools with in the Toronto district school board offered family studies courses as elective also. They still do.

thanks for letting me know!

[Munchkin03]

Originally posted by Taualumna
It seems to me that you have a problem with their lifestyle.

Since their lifestyle is the one I grew up in, and chances are the one in which I will probably raise MY children, I certainly don't have a problem with their lifestyle. If you had read all of my posts and had any idea of what I spoke, you would have understood that. If you had read closer, you would have seen where I plan to be a stay-at-home parent for at least a few years. It seems to me that you have a problem with not reading my posts correctly.

I have no problem with women who choose not to work--after all, isn't that what feminism is all about, choices? These women are simply at the higher end of what middle class women have done since the beginning of time, and cannot be considered as a representative sample.

[Taualumna]

Originally posted by Munchkin03
Since their lifestyle is the one I grew up in, and chances are the one in which I will probably raise MY children, I certainly don't have a problem with their lifestyle. If you had read all of my posts and had any idea of what I spoke, you would have understood that. If you had read closer, you would have seen where I plan to be a stay-at-home parent for at least a few years. It seems to me that you have a problem with not reading my posts correctly.

I have no problem with women who choose not to work--after all, isn't that what feminism is all about, choices? These women are simply at the higher end of what middle class women have done since the beginning of time.

Yes, but you want to go back to work once the kids are a little older. I'm assuming that the ladies in the article do not. If a woman wants to give up her career, and especially if she's very well educated (say, two or three degrees), then her reaction is much more negative.

[kappaloo]

This thread reminds me of a Melanie Doane lyric:

"It's never what we want, it's always what we should".



As for home ec - it's an elective in HS across Ontario now (I don't know about grade 7&8 - I took home ec, but that's before the new curriculm came into effect)- if facilities exist. A lot of home education facilities have been revamped into more classrooms, which is a shame. I loved my grade 10 cooking class...

[justamom]

I have to say the article made me laugh. GOOD GRIEF, what has being married to a man earning $800.000.00 a year got to do with the general population?

So many great things posted. I think whatever suits your FAMILY
(not necessarily YOU-individually) is what's important. Being married and having children means you have to operate as a unit.
I do HIGHLY encourage mothers to stay home with their kids, they need you so much and the joy returned is priceless. BUT for many, MANY people, sacrifices must be made. These women did sound a little self centered...or maybe idealistic would be a better term. That's OK-you learn quickly once the baby comes.

I have always felt sorry for men who have the total earnings responsibility placed on their shoulders-unless that's what has been agreed upon. Things happen-illness, job loss, the general economy-then there are braces, dance lessons, college BLAH BLAH BLAH! From the tone of the interviews, I wonder if these women could step up to the plate and keep the family together if disaster hit.

James, I honestly believe the majority of people, men and women, desire marriage. (I DID NOT SAY EVERYONE!) Within THAT group, I would think MOST would desire a family. College comes at an age when young adults start sorting out these feelings. Finding or HOPING to find your mate at this time seems kind of natural to me.
When your friends start getting married, it's does hit you like a brick. It CAN make the drive to find that someone seem more urgent. It's scary to feel like you may never find the *right* one-especially when that's your heart's desire.

That old saying about the MRS degree holds a lot of truth, but it fails to say, there are men looking too.

[kappaloo]

Must not skip pages when reviewing topics...

Originally posted by James
So if you compare it, it looks like many girls do go to school for that MRS. Degree. Although I am willing to concede that they may approach it like a dual degree.

I would agree with this (says the girl who met her hopeful spouse 2 days into university)... this guy actually believe the ONLY reason women went to university was for the MRS degree.

I think it's a wise idea to hope to meet your spouse at university - that way you know they're hopefully smart and responsible. Sounds better to me than picking up at a bar.

[Munchkin03]

Originally posted by Taualumna
Yes, but you want to go back to work once the kids are a little older. I'm assuming that the ladies in the article do not. If a woman wants to give up her career, and especially if she's very well educated (say, two or three degrees), then her reaction is much more negative.

Yes, but I don't have to go back to work. Frankly? I don't have to work after graduate school--but I CHOOSE to. Munchkin knows she would go crazy not working, even if it was only part time at an architectural firm, for 18+ years, which is why Munchkin wants to go to work after Mini-Munchkins are born.

The other women I know with advanced degrees didn't get any static for ending their careers.

The reason I posted the article is because it made me laugh out loud, and it made me think. Pretty good record for the NYPost.

I'm sure there are people who don't know me very well who would think I went to college for the MRS (Southern, sorority gal, rather unemployable undergrad major), considering I've been with the boy for years. But, those who know me know I didn't.

[Peaches-n-Cream]

I want to meet one of these men with an $800,000 salary so I can stay home and breed pretty babies. It would be nice, but I think that for most women it is a modern day fairy tale. Only a handful of people can live this lifestyle. As Munchkin wrote,

These women are simply at the higher end of what middle class women have done since the beginning of time, and cannot be considered as a representative sample.

Most of the women I know cannot afford to stay home without an income because New York and the suburbs are too expensive. They don't live luxurious lives either. They have mortgages and taxes and utilities to pay which are extremely expensive.

[GeekyPenguin]

Originally posted by Taualumna
But the message that girls' schools tend to give their students is "go out and work". My high school has tons and tons of seminars and workshops given by women in different fields. Never has there been one on homemaking. In fact, they abolished Family Studies from the middle school curriculum some time in the 1970s. They expect you to go to university and then find a career, not a job is married or until one has a baby. That's the message that they give you.

That's the message that YOUR all-girls school gave you. There are a lot of other ones that don't give this message, they give you the message to marry a nice boy from the all-boys school and make him babies.

Does this remind anyone else of Mona Lisa Smile?

[Taualumna]

Originally posted by GeekyPenguin
That's the message that YOUR all-girls school gave you. There are a lot of other ones that don't give this message, they give you the message to marry a nice boy from the all-boys school and make him babies.

Does this remind anyone else of Mona Lisa Smile?

Please do not compare Mona Lisa Smile to a late 20th century-early 21st century school. The Wellesley portrayed in the movie is not the Wellesley of 2004. If I were to produce a movie about my school in 1953-54, it too would likely resemble MLS. If you read the article, one girl said that she didn't want to be like her mother, having to work all day and having no time for her growing up. Maybe she just wants to be different, just like her mom wanted to be different from an earlier generation.

ETA: Even the most modern girls' high schools still slightly promote dating boys from the nearby boys' school(s)...At my school, for example, all theatrical productions were with the boys' school next door.

[mu_agd]

Originally posted by Taualumna
Please do not compare Mona Lisa Smile to a late 20th century-early 21st century school. The Wellesley portrayed in the movie is not the Wellesley of 2004. If I were to produce a movie about my school in 1953-54, it too would likely resemble MLS. If you read the article, one girl said that she didn't want to be like her mother, having to work all day and having no time for her growing up. Maybe she just wants to be different, just like her mom wanted to be different from an earlier generation.

wellesley today does still give off that message, although not as much and it's more subtle. i was talking to a friend of a friend a few weeks ago about the movie and about that message. not many schools i know have a special bus that will take you to cambridge on friday and saturday nights so that way you may meet a nice harvard or mit man to marry....

[Taualumna]

Originally posted by mu_agd
wellesley today does still give off that message, although not as much and it's more subtle. i was talking to a friend of a friend a few weeks ago about the movie and about that message. not many schools i know have a special bus that will take you to cambridge on friday and saturday nights so that way you may meet a nice harvard or mit man to marry....

Well, don't you think it'll be a little difficult to meet men your own age in an all women's college? You do need a "normal" social life!

[mu_agd]

Originally posted by Taualumna
Well, don't you think it'll be a little difficult to meet men your own age in an all women's college? You do need a "normal" social life!

i didn't say it wasn't difficult. however, this is the metro boston area, there are plenty of modes of transportation to go out and meet men. i think it's strange that the school pays for a bus that will bring them directly to the MIT fraternity houses.

[Taualumna]

Originally posted by mu_agd
i didn't say it wasn't difficult. however, this is the metro boston area, there are plenty of modes of transportation to go out and meet men. i think it's strange that the school pays for a bus that will bring them directly to the MIT fraternity houses.

Yeah, but why bother paying for something when the school's paying for you to go meet men? Sounds fun to me...

ETA: Today's message is more like this: You finish school, you get a job....the best jobs are jobs that aren't "traditionally female"....you marry a man who has a similar job and you make babies with him. However, you should also keep up with that job while you're raising that baby. If you quit, you're just not helping the advancement of women.