Since the beginning
of time, up until the 1960, women have been seen as beneath men. They have
been
over looked for
too long, and have begun to come out of hiding in the past forty years.
On an island not far
off of the coast
of Maryland, stands a woman, holding a torch. Does it not seem strange
that it has taken
nearly five hundred
years to see that women have the same freedom as men, and it is clearly
shown by the
symbol which has
for years been seen as a symbol of freedom for our nation.
Throughout our investigation
of how women have changed within our very recent past, Kelli and I have
seen that many women
have turned down the opportunity to further their career advancement, while
many others
have decided to
embrace their freedom as equals, in our society. Although there have been
many women to
decline the option
of going out into the career field, that wasn't the suprising treasure
that we found. Many
women have discussed
how much the world has changed to further women's options, enabling them
to
work, but yet many
of the women that have decided to take the opportunity to advance their
knowledge of
the world, have
also continued being the housekeeper, child rearer, and cook. If this is
what makes them
happy that is fine,
but if this is their idea of equal, maybe we should redefine the word.
When I think of a
woman trying to
make it in the work place raise a family and continue to do all of the
housework herself,
there is only one
word that comes to mind. ASPIRIN.
A few our classmates
responded with a description of their mothers, letting us see how their
families have
been when their
mothers have stayed at home, being the housewife. Catherine Saunders responds,
"My
mother is a mother
of four children and remains at home as a housewife." Another, Stephanie
Kreimborg
replied, "In my
family the mothers stay home when their children are young so they can
raise them, but they
go back to work
when the kids go back to school." These are two examples of women who have
chosen
to stay with their
children and not pursue a career.
Many others suprisingly
responded with an opposite view. Danielle Nanni responded, "Deborah Nanni
was
the so called 'Bread
Winner' of the family. I am encouraged to achieve the highest education
that I can get. I
have never been
discouraged because I am a girl." There were many other responses that
were very similar
to this, but one
that stuck out was, Kristin Eaton, who replied, "My Mom and Dad both do
laundry cook
and clean. If my
Mom is busy my dad will help and the other way around." Although this was
surprising,
there was still
one more that totally blew me away. Ryan Owens leaves us with, "My Mom
(Norene
Owens) is the first
woman on her side to hold a full time job. Her career is equal in importance
to my
father's (Richard
Owens) career. In fact, my mother makes about $20,000 more than my dad
annually, and
this is no big deal
for my family." A wife who makes more than her husband. Who would have
ever thought
this was possible?
Wouldn't a man be ashamed that his wife can out position him? My response,
"It's the
90's, people have
finally begun to come out of their shell, and have realized, that who makes
the money is
the least of their
worries, it's the fact that they have the money, not who earned it." It
is a blessing that
women today are
able to choose a life for themselves, instead of a society choosing it
for them, by confining
them to a "woman's
job", and allowing them to make their own decisions. The only loss that
I have seen in
this situation is
that it has taken so long to get to this point.
The last group of
women that I have seen, are the women that have been leading a double life,
those
women who have a
full-time career, and at the same time, raise a family. Jessica Stckmeister,
has seen the
light comparing
her dreams with those of the past and replies, "We don't just have to stay
home anymore.
Women's careers
are just as important as men's now." Amie Prewitt tells of her father's
point of view on the
subject. "My father
feels that a women's career is second to raising a family and the men's
career is first
goal is that they
are able to raise a family." Michelle Taylor also tells us of her family's
position, "My Mom
still does most
of the housework, and cooking." Seeing the position of these few families,
including mine,
where my mother,
Rebecca Lancaster, has continued to pursue her career, and has become Vice
President
of the bank in which
she works, and also is a full time Mom, wife, cook, and housekeeper. When
her
children were young,
she was the one who changed the diapers, and went to the ball games. My
father has
always worked two
or three jobs, but he never played a huge role in my life. The only time
he went to a
school function,
was when I graduated. This is a sad, sad situation. To see a woman work
for so long, to
fulfill her dreams,
but at the same time, have to fulfill the dreams of her family. Is this
the freedom that so
many of our ancestors
have fought to get? Did they expect the women of this great nation to have
to survive
working two full
time positions just to get ahead in the world, or is it what these women
have always
wanted, the best
of both worlds?