Deborah fallows why mothers should stay home away

Six months ago, Deb finally

The Politics of Motherhood By Deborah Fallows Betty Friedan launched the contemporary women's movement in by depicting the home as a domestic penal institution for women. In The Feminine The women's movement has not yet had the time or made the effort to understand and explore what life at home can be like for women today They changed the sheets on the beds twice a week instead of once, took the rug-hooking class in adult education Because most women earn less money than most men, when it comes time to decide which spouse stays home, the choice is obvious The withering comments are familiar to every at-home mother: "What's an educated young woman like you doing at home If you think diapers and dishes are a never-ending repetitive routine," says Schlafly, "just remember that most of the jobs outside the home are just as repetitious, tiresome, and boring Feminists have pushed for legislative reform that directly assists homemakers Having spent the last three years in such an effort myself, with my children ranging from as young as one year old to as old as seven during that time, I know the difficulties of writing with children around Still, their battles for political and economic equality have inevitably led them to prize achievement on the job above all else On the way out, she asks me, in a sister-to-sister tone, "Well, when are you going to go back to work She counsels mothers to "draw out the venom inside a person" as a tactic for dealing with a recalcitrant child To understand Pogrebin's pride in these accomplishments, it helps to examine some specific examples A mother can see the results of her own handiwork in the good citizen she has produced and trained," Schlafly writes Right-wing sweetheart Phyllis Schlafly, leader of the anti-ERA movement and founder of the conservative Eagle Forum, reigns as first lady of the pro-family movement Women should also at least be thinking of contingency plans for intolerable situations at home, such as infidelity or physical abuse Millions of children will spend billions of hours in these institutions