Wednesday, June 15, 2011

What a Difference a Decade (or 2 or 3) Makes!





Since the cancellation of DISH at our house, we have been watching NetFlix. One of the favorites of the younger set is the Cosby show. We seem to watch it almost every day.

As we have been watching this, it has become apparent how blatant feminist messages were in the t.v. shows of the 70's and 80's. We pretty much took them for granted then and cheered them on at the time. But today when I watch these shows, it grates on me.

It was a staple in the Cosby show that Claire, the matriarch attorney of the family, would take on any male who dared suggest that a woman do anything that was stereotypically female (a la June). Most of the time this would be Elvin, oldest daughter Sondra's erstwhile boyfriend and eventually husband, although there were other males who regularly made a hapless statement.

Elvin would make some comment about "woman's" work in front of Claire, which set off a head twitching feminist rant about equality. Claire got applause and cheers while Elvin was made to look like a bumbling, chauvinistic idiot.

I am all for equal pay for equal work. But, seeing these shows has made me think how indoctrinated we have become, and how much media played into and still plays into the indoctrination. Why wasn't and isn't being an at home Mom presented as a valid career choice?

And why did the message have to be presented so forcefully? Was it for the sake of the men involved? No, Claire was set forth as a role model, and the message had to be strong. After all, who wouldn't want to be a successful attorney married to a successful doctor and have 5 kids?

And I also wonder why the men had to be made to look like fools? Why was there never a civil conversation about equality and working outside the home, equal pay, division of household duties? No, it was always a scene to show the superiority of the woman, her wit, her verbiage and her intellect.

Media today still promotes women as the smarter of the two between men and women. You just have to see what passes as funny in advertising today to know that making the man look like an idiot sells

I am just using the Cosby show as an example here, but I know there were many others who promoted the same agenda. In mulling this over, I wonder what damage this has all done to women and society in general.

Growing up and graduating from high school at the height of the feminist movement, I can see how I shoved aside what I really wanted to be - what God wanted for me - because it was not "cool" to want to be a wife and a mom.

I went to college to be a teacher, still somewhere in the back of my mind thinking I could teach until the kids came. I ended up getting a degree in Human Development and Family Relations. If you don't think God has a sense of humor, think again!

I worked for 10 years in the nursing home industry, many in a nicely compensated position as a nursing home administrator. But, I was never happy with what I was doing. Something was missing.  
It wasn't until Katie was born and I began my new career as a wife and stay at home Mom that I understood.

Has it been easy? No. People assume you stay at home because you don't "have to work" and there are no money issues. I have heard it more than once "I wish I could afford to stay home" - well so do I! We have had to give up things that other people take for granted - DISH for example.

But I think what we have gained from my being at home, and also homeschooling the girls, has been far outweighed the things we have given up. Is it a mind numbing struggle some days? Of course. But isn't any job?

When it all comes down to it, I am doing what I know God wants me to do. In the end, it is doing what he asks of me that counts - despite what Claire Huxtable says.

Be blessed moms!

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