General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: "Women are life support systems for pussy." [View all]hfojvt
(37,573 posts)perhaps because my dad had no sisters, and had a mom who graduated from college in 1927. In my household, there was no such thing as "women's work". Sons set the table, cleared the table and did house cleaning. There was, however, no dish washing, since, upper middle class that we were, we had a machine to do that.
Heck, I even did some baking, helping to make kochies in the 5th grade for my birthday treat to take to school.
But there was a certain inequality. My sisters did NOT share equally in the lawn mowing, which was mostly done by me, as brother and dad both had allergies (and now so do I, but I didn't then). I even edged the sidewalk, and we get to tell stories about the time I threw the edger across the yard - I was having so much fun.
My sisters did not, after a certain age, do a share of the snow shovelling either, and in SD in the 1970s we got a fair amount of snow. When we went camping, my younger siblings ran off to swim and play, while I helped dad to set the camper up (truthfully I did not like swimming all that much).
Maybe I was born later, or just lived in a more progressive household, but my experience from 1962 was not of assigned gender roles.
Mom didn't have an outside job after marriage, but two of her sisters, including her oldest sister, did, and mom's life does not seem to me to have been any worse than dad's for not having the "privilege" of working a job.
Generally I have hated my own jobs, and would much rather NOT have to be the "bread winner". Although it is clear looking around this house, that I am a lousy housekeeper. Plus I have not made kochies in a long time. Maybe tomorrow I will get motivated.