More Squirrel Stories Coming Soon, I Promise
The final section of the Homeward Bound article that I have been discussing ad nauseum is entitled "Why Do We Care?". My answer to this question can be found in the Part III discussion – namely that no one seems to be taking our children into account or even considering how present policies will impact the future. I grew up in Washington, DC, and watched about 10,000 hours more news than the average child, so I know that politicians have forever been saying how they don’t want to pass this or that problem on to their children. Well here I am, a mom myself, and the problems remain and the politicians still claim that they don’t want to pass the problems on (Hello??? National debt???). However, I figured I wouldn’t disappoint all of my tortured readers by combining the two sections. There are a few final points in Section IV that I wanted to comment on.
Ms. Hirshman says that one answer to “why do we care?” what the Times brides do is that “what they do is bad for them, it is certainly bad for society” because of the “regime effect” whereby poor little bourgeois middle class me quits my job because I want to be like a Times bride even though I’m too poor. Once again, I must state that that suggestion is a crock. I admit I am unlike the women in the Times wedding announcements, and that is the very reason why I would not choose to imitate them. I’ve never considered them “elite” except that they have more money. Since our circumstances are so different, why would I feel that they are role models for me?
Ms. Hirshman also states that “elites supply the labor for the decision-making classes.” Is this India? I thought we all had a shot at increasing our standing in society, based upon hard work, innate abilities, etc., etc. Since I wasn’t born to go to Yale, I’m out of luck? My possible contributions should not be considered? I should be more worried about finding a way to motivate the Times brides that don’t want to work than finding a way to get myself back to work or a way to support the hundreds of thousands of brides who do want to work?
I believe I understand why this article was so harsh. In a way, Ms. Hirshman was trying to draw attention to herself, but I also think that she has legitimate concerns and that framing them in the most controversial way was one way to ensure maximum exposure. I hope she is not actually so closed-minded to think that any combination of “choice” and feminism is impossible, but I understand that enumerating a list of exceptions to her argument would only weaken it.
This article gave me a lot to think about, because for now I am happy at home, and it is easy to focus on my own happiness and expect that someone else is out there working on preparing a better world for my kiddies. I can choose to stay home, but I can’t turn a blind eye to the women who are doing the work. The discussion of all these issues is important, if only because some women may turn their anger at Ms. Hirshman into a search for solutions to some of the problems she describes.
Ms. Hirshman says that one answer to “why do we care?” what the Times brides do is that “what they do is bad for them, it is certainly bad for society” because of the “regime effect” whereby poor little bourgeois middle class me quits my job because I want to be like a Times bride even though I’m too poor. Once again, I must state that that suggestion is a crock. I admit I am unlike the women in the Times wedding announcements, and that is the very reason why I would not choose to imitate them. I’ve never considered them “elite” except that they have more money. Since our circumstances are so different, why would I feel that they are role models for me?
Ms. Hirshman also states that “elites supply the labor for the decision-making classes.” Is this India? I thought we all had a shot at increasing our standing in society, based upon hard work, innate abilities, etc., etc. Since I wasn’t born to go to Yale, I’m out of luck? My possible contributions should not be considered? I should be more worried about finding a way to motivate the Times brides that don’t want to work than finding a way to get myself back to work or a way to support the hundreds of thousands of brides who do want to work?
I believe I understand why this article was so harsh. In a way, Ms. Hirshman was trying to draw attention to herself, but I also think that she has legitimate concerns and that framing them in the most controversial way was one way to ensure maximum exposure. I hope she is not actually so closed-minded to think that any combination of “choice” and feminism is impossible, but I understand that enumerating a list of exceptions to her argument would only weaken it.
This article gave me a lot to think about, because for now I am happy at home, and it is easy to focus on my own happiness and expect that someone else is out there working on preparing a better world for my kiddies. I can choose to stay home, but I can’t turn a blind eye to the women who are doing the work. The discussion of all these issues is important, if only because some women may turn their anger at Ms. Hirshman into a search for solutions to some of the problems she describes.
posted by Shannon at 10:43 PM
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