Dear Post #32,
I recognize that I made some generalizations, but as I said in my post, I think most of the things I mentioned are done by women. It is a rare man who bakes for the bake sale, cooks on the holidays, or is the primary person a child in need comes to at all hours. Not unheard of, but come on, you can’t deny it is not the norm. I think it is more generally true that men’s “job descriptions” are more narrowly defined than women’s. Especially these days when many women work AND are the primary homemaker and/or parent. Or when they care for kids, are the primary homemaker, AND homeschool-- especially homeschooling multiple kids of varying ages. I think it is very rare for a man to take on that role.
And-- do not underestimate childbearing. You sort of pushed that off as an isolated example of something women do but men don’t. Childbearing is an enormous, all-encompassing task that affects every area of our lives, again without “limits.” Nine months of morning sickness, exhaustion, wearing maternity clothes, often while struggling to keep up all our other duties, followed by the pain of childbirth, then either nursing for a few months to a couple of years which means being with the infant 24/7 or pumping breastmilk, and usually being the primary parent…caregiver…housekeeper…cook…and so forth…The point is, we pretty much have no limits on what we are called upon to do.
Women’s lives change much more than men’s when a child enters the picture. I have three kids. My husband has been working at the same job for the 12 years during which our kids have been born. He goes to the same office and sits at the same desk for the same 8 hours. That is not a criticism or complaint; it is a simple reality. His life for most of the day is exactly as it was before we had children. In that same time, my duties have increased in virtually every area. On virtually the same income he had 12 years ago (despite tiny raises, it has not increased commensurately with our growing family; he gets “cost of living” increases but not “you have three more children now” increases), I have to feed and clothe three more children, cook three times the food, do three times the laundry, pick up three times the mess, wash three times more dishes, teach three different grades, and have three times less free time. Again lest another writer accuse me of bitterness, I am not bitter, I am just stating the facts.
This is supposed to be a fun charitable thread to give men a chance to tell women what they appreciate about them, not a place for you to rant about the women you know.
