Sorting it out

I return to the original intention of this blog, a chronicled discussion. Our relationship has raised questions about behavior and expectations, and we notice that some of the answers reside in our gender identities.

Why fold underwear?
Why sort clothing before washing?
Why do young girls not care about dirty socks in the middle of the living room until they're older?

It may be that some of the same mechanisms that are in play when considering these questions ~ culture, upbringing, and gender ~ are also foundations for the more difficult questions about violence and discrimination.

Changing the subject.

Success. Is it just coincidence or has the definition of success changed with the rise of feminism? Success used to mean having a powerful high-paying job of great responsibility, or being married to someone who did. Then women decided we wanted the action for ourselves. No longer was college simply the path to attaining our M.R.S.; we put off child-rearing until our careers were established. We learned how to swim with the sharks, run with the bulls, and land house-husbands. When we discovered the glass ceiling, the shit hit the fan.

However, something has happened in recent years; fewer people pursue management positions, preferring jobs that may pay less but also require less responsibility. Granted, with unemployment rising all around us, few will have the luxury of turning down stressful jobs that come available. But, all things being equal, job-seekers are opting for situations that allow them to spend more time doing things that enrich their lives (not just their wallets) such as spending time with their families or pursuing hobbies.

And changing the subject again, tangentially.

There's a name for jobs with hours that parallel the time that children are in school: "mother's hours". The workday starts at 8:30am and ends at 2:30pm. These jobs have been notoriously low-paying (with poor, if any, benefits attached) because employers knew that mothers needed to be with young children once the children weren't in school. I wonder if the economics have changed as more men opt for these kinds of jobs?