Follow Up: Responding to Rachel

In response to Rachel’s post, I too found Betty Friedan’s excerpt from The Feminine Mystique to be extremely thought provoking. Rachel posed a question, “What are the greatest barriers/opportunities of being a woman in the workplace and concurrently caring for a family?” Besides stating the obvious, that women are definitely not equal to men in the workplace and are constantly facing male chauvinists who believe women are incapable of performing tasks like a man can, working mothers face the judgment of other mothers that do not work. Although this may not be a barrier necessarily in the workplace, it is surely a barrier in the community that working mothers must overcome. I know that working mothers definitely face judgments and ridicule from other mothers that are always around to care for their children, make them meals, attend all of their sporting events, etc.

On the other hand, I know that women that have occupations as well as care for their families can also tend to look down upon those mothers that choose to stay home and be a “housewife”, or “homemaker”. There are many women that make the choice to raise their children and be there at all times whenever they are needed, and for this they should not be looked down upon as living the stereotypical life of a female.

As I read Betty Friedan’s excerpt, two films came to mind. I first thought of the movie Pleasantville, and how the mother in the movie is so content with her life of laundry, cleaning, cooking, and food shopping, but begins to realize actually how unhappy she is stuck in her little bubble. I found a scene in the movie that I find to be funny but when I think about how real it still is for some women in today’s world I began to wonder if it was actually “funny”. How can women overcome the idea that they don’t necessarily have to be home at dinnertime with food on the table and a smile on their face? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZiKAskjPF8

I also thought of the movie, Revolutionary Road, which portrays an extremely depressing outlook on life for a female. Women are supposed to get married, move to the suburbs, have children, and raise them to be good people. After I watched it I literally asked myself, “Is that all there is?” even though I was raised to know how important a career is. As a female, one cannot help but watch this movie and question their future. Warning: there is bad language in this scene. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8I-56Xyr0Bw