Would ranting about those Black-Friday-sale obsessed types ALREADY camping out at stores fit here, or is that level of material greed a thread of its own?
And I think that’s great.
But I also see too many women who are conflicted because their nature (of which they’re not very conscious, not being very keen on self-reflection) or their circumstances call for them to work outside the home, but their confessors and their religious beliefs call for them to be a lean-to for their husbands, the warrior’s rest, and indicate that since they haven’t landed a husband / they’re separated / they’re widowed / they make more than their husband and the family wouldn’t be able to manage without their income, they’re failures. Those are not great, either in their personal cases or in their attempts to dump those same feelings of inadequacy and guilt on every other female coworker / relative / acquaintance who doesn’t already have them.
Haven’t seen Black Friday shoppers camping out yet, but I have seen people doing so for this weekend’s release of Nintendo’s Wii U. Wonder if this is what you’ve seen. (At my store, many of the same customers who camped out two weeks ago for Halo 4, and this last week for Call of Duty: Black Ops II, are back for this one.)
Didn’t see it personally, someone posted a photo on the Android Forum. Since it was in front of a Best Buy, maybe it was “gotta have that game machine!”.
Stay-at-home wife…though I’m sure the mom part will follow soon, as that particular side of the family seems to think the only respectable thing a woman can do with her life is to get married and have as many babies as possible. There’s definitely a lot of religious-based pressure there; everything they post about is “God’s will” or “what God wants”. Maybe I’m reading a bit of a defeated tone into it.
One Best Buy had camped-out shoppers on Wednesday already, and asked them to leave. Thank goodness for a little bit of sanity.
And on another note, I’m ok with stay-at-home spouses of any kind, but:
- I think it’s sad in the cases where you knew they once had happy dreams of pursuing a career and suddenly it’s like they were replaced with pod people
- I think in today’s economic climate, it’s extremely unwise to not be working when you are able. Some misfortune like death of spouse, divorce, disability, high medical bills, etc. and you find yourself deep in debt and absolutely undesirable in the job market.
And more power to you. The issue is when a woman assumes that the way that works best for them is absolutely the superior way for all women, everywhere. That’s the bullshit I can’t stand. When you’re a working woman as I am, and you have to contend with so many phony ‘‘oh, pity the poor deluded woman who works outside the home!’’ comments, and a mother acts like her decision is the Will of God rather than - horrors - her own decision, then that SAHM is becoming an instrument in the oppression of women.
And even the fact that you automatically associate ‘‘professional’’ with ‘‘obsessed with money and prestige’’ is really troubling. Do you seriously think that? Maybe we just… enjoy working? Or maybe we, you know,* have no choice*? (Both are true, in my case.) It’s no different than when professional women drum up false sympathy for SAHMs who just really prefer to be SAHMs. I am not going to hear some judgmental bitch (like the one I mentioned upthread) tell ME what her god wants for my life.
Nor do I want to hear some judgmental bitch (not you, in general) tell me that my life choices are worthless or damaging to women as a group, or that because I hold beliefs that she disagrees with that I’m brainwashed or stupid or a helpless victim of EEEEVIL men.
Have you really not noticed our society’s obsession with money and career as the be-all and end-all of life, and the only thing worth any time and attention? When those who label themselves “professional” as a code for “I’m more important than you are” can stop devaluing those of us who have other priorities, it’ll go a long way toward convincing me that “professional” doesn’t necessarily equal “obsessed with money and success”.
If you (again, generic you, not a specific person) ENJOY your career, great, wonderful, I’m delighted for you. How about showing those of us who choose differing priorities in life some of the same tolerance and respect you demand?
I want to be a SAHS(pouse).
That’s definitely not the ideal. My sister wants to be a stay-at-home wife (no kids); her husband makes excellent money, we don’t have healthcare worries because we’re in Canada, her husband bitterly hates housework and yardwork, and she loves staying home and looking after her house, yard, and doggies. That’s a completely different scenario than someone staying at home and popping out kid after kid because God and everyone she knows tells her that’s what women do.
ETA: Regarding professional women vs. not so professional women, everyone needs to tend to their own damned knitting.
I would rather see a functional family living within its means, with a nice home [rented or owned], happy healthy kids [if they want kids] and one or both parents working, I don’t care if they are rich, just happy and healthy. I really don’t care if they have every single electronic toy, a jacuzzi and his and hers ferraris, they can drive rust buckets if that makes them happy [I haven’t owned a new vehicle since 1995 … we always buy used, it keeps uus within our budget. We have NO credit card debt, just hte mortgage on the house.]
Precisely. Stay at home, work, whatever, just please don’t get on your high horse and say that’s What All Women Should Do just because that’s what **you **do. I ain’t you. You ain’t me. We knit differently and that’s okay.
That goes equally for men and women. God can stay out of it.
Three flat tires. Had no idea until I was getting ready to run errands this morning. It’s my husband’s car, and I was the last one who drove it.
“Honey, what did you run over?”
“I have no idea.”
“You must have felt a bump or shimmying or something.”
Um no, I didn’t.
… Are you sure someone didn’t slash them? :eek:
I’d guess that kiz drove over some construction trash that fell out of an unsecured load. Nobody would see a bunch of nails and screws on the road, and the tires would not go flat at once.
Steve wasn’t in the trap yesterday morning, so I called my Awesome Vet and told him the problem. AV said that while he thinks labwork is very important for sick cats, he knows me well enough that if I think one of my cats has a UTI, my cat probably does indeed have a UTI.
When I went to pick the sleeve of amoxi up, I mentioned to my favorite tech that I felt complimented that AV trusted me so much. She told me that it was mostly because AV trusted my judgement about feral vs frightened stray and thought that tossing amoxi at me was better than having Steve show up to be drugged, urine taken, vet techs mangled, exam room ripped up and then giving me some amoxi.
Preens I got the towels right, just not the location of said towels. Finding lost things is my superpower. It works much better if I know the person and the place that the item went missing.
Bill has gotten so used to my amazing superpower that he will call me to ask where he put something I’ve never even seen in the office that I’ve never been in, and 9 times out of 10…I can tell him.
I only use my powers for good 
I knit…and I also crochet. And I taught myself how to do both (and tatting) out of a book.
I’m TIRED of being told that women, all women, should do this or feel that or refrain from doing something else. I’ve heard it since I was a little girl, and wanted to wear blue jeans and go shirtless.
“I am as God made me, I have no desire for a mouth at my breast or a pot on the fire…”
I typically only lurk in here, but just wanted to add that this discussion is at the core of a women’s history course I’m taking. You nailed what I’ve been trying to articulate about myself and pretty much everything else during this semester. So, thanks. I think–it’s not exactly a happy subject, but you’ve helped me find something to point at and say “this is what is bugging me about our culture.” 
No slashes, according to the auto repair guy. One had a nail. The other two tires were deemed too old to repair. He also said that, at some point, somebody must have bumped up against too many curbs, judging from the rims :eek:
They’ve been ripping up one of the main roads around here in order to put in a new gas line, so maybe…???