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The Battle ofth_eSexes...
"
IT'S
KILLING
US
ALL
by
Sheila Graham
The so-called battle of the sexes is killing us.
It's not win or lose-we're all losing.
M
ORE ANO
MORE
of
today's
women feel that
life- real life- is
passing them by.
Single working
women now want
marriage and chil–
dren.
Married
working women are
beginning to realize
it's now or never as
far as their child–
beari ng capabili–
ties. Having chil–
dren is more im–
portan
t
to them
than they thought.
The trend since the
mid to late '70s is
toward more chil–
dren ,
families
again.
once sent eager disci–
ples toward the magi–
cal goal of "fulfill–
ment." Now, almost
two decades later,
women find they are
no closer to true, sat–
isfying fulfillment
than before.
Of course, many
women, and more
men, were immedi–
ately repelled by the
extreme rhetoric of
the more radical
feminists , who pitted
the values of family
life and motherhood
against female ca–
reers. Few in the
Western world , how–
ever, have escaped
the influence of the
upsurge of female
feminist demands.
Now, Betty Frie-
dan , the American
.... author in 1963 of
o.
1
The Feminine Mys-
In America, for
example, the U .S.
Census Bureau ex–
pects that by the mid
' 80s births will again
surpass the four-mil–
j
tique- the
book tbat
~
is said to have in-
--------------------------' ~
spired the women' s
lion-a-year mark. Of course, these
figu res re:ftect that more women in
the United States are reaching
childbearing age. But tbese statis–
tics also include those women in
their 30s who have postponed hav–
ing children.
Does this mean the traditional
family witb father as provider and
March 1982
mother as homemaker is making a
sudden comeback? Hardly, but the
inevitable backlash against feminist
oratory opposing the values of fam–
ily and home has now grown into
recognizable proportions.
Chan ga in Dire c tion s
Leaders of the feminist movement
li beration move-
ment-is admitting she was wrong
to create the impression that career
superseded family life and mother–
hood. She's calling for new direc–
tions, or, as per the title of her
latest book,
The Second Stage.
She
claims the first stage of the
women's movement is over and
admits, "But 1 hear now what 1
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