SAHMs
Be forewarned, I'm about to fly off the handle. I've had enough of the Stay At Home Mom (SAHM) bashing and would like to go on record saying, in the words of Cee Lo Green, "Forget You" to the bashers.
Full disclosure, my wife is a SAHM and I am friends with many other SAHMs (as well as many more working moms). To be clear, this is NOT an assault on the working mom. There are many good working moms who don't disparage SAHMs. But it absolutely is one on the SAHM bashers.
"I'd be so bored." "I'd be worried my brain would turn to mush." "What does she do all day?"
These are all statements I've heard by women about SAHMs. Note, it is only from women that I've heard such belittling and disrespectful remarks. I don't know what these women think goes on during a SAHMs day raising children, but clearly they're envisioning some sort of laid back pleasure cruise that doesn't involve daily pressures on par with any job charged with protecting and preparing the most precious of treasures.
Bored? This implies that the speaker feels they need more stimulation than taking care of and raising their children can give. I guess when John F. Kennedy said children were "the best hope for the future" he forgot to mention this was contingent on them entertaining and engaging you as much as a career path with social standing. Mrs. Kennedy said, "if you bungle raising your children, I don't think it much matters what else you do." Somehow I don't think she'd approve of SAHM bashing statements about how boring raising children is.
As for the mushy brain comment, this is demeaning to women and SAHMs in particular. As if not working in a company (no mushy brains there) or organization means you're not using your brain. Or if following your womanhood to its logical conclusion (children) and then committing to raising those children as a "career" makes you less intelligent than the woman who abandons her womanhood to pursue a career or the working mom who simply wants to feel superior to SAHMs so she attacks their intelligence. I don't know any SAHMs that are full of mush but I do know bashers who are full of something else.
"What does she do all day?" Hint: the answer is not go to lunch with friends, go to happy hour, gossip in the break room, or constantly check a mirror to see how she looks.
What does a SAHM do? She toils. She toils to feed her family and raise them with all the support she can give and then some. She gives, time, sleep, money, standing in society, everything to care for her family. I don't think any mom would say she does any differently, so why is it ok to condescend to SAHMs with this type of question?
Clearly I have an opinion about this, as do many people. But the one thing we should all agree on is the bitter attacks on motherhood, and particularly SAHMs, isn't acceptable. Because the truth is it's an attack on our future.