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8
r
PRICE
YOUR
GHT?
by
Sheila Graham
Women have had their t radit ional responsibilities of homemaking downgraded and de–
valued. Now they a re out in vast numbers to prove their worth- but at what cost?
O
~hTe
OF
throes
of infe riority a
growing number·
of wome n a r e
t u rning their
backs on hearth
and home. They
are reachi ng out
t hrough a myr–
i ad di ve rs if ied
fie lds and occu–
pations to prove
their worth- but
at what cost?
The undermin–
ing
of
the family!
And that is the
admitted goal of a few zealots
who feel women shou Id be
"freed" from the patriarchal
nuclear family, who feel that
society- not
t he family-should
be more responsible for the care
and development of children.
But not aJI working mothers
are women's libbers- most
women do not automatically
agree with tbe so-called utopian
social changes fostered by the
feminists among us. Many
women are forced to work in sup–
port of their family situations.
Tod ay 's Cr is is
Families, today, often find them–
selves in precarious situations
April 1981
TODAY'S /icensed day·care facilities
do not begin to provide adequate
space for the influx of children whose
parents both work outside the home.
economically because of illness or
death of the father, divorce, loss
of work opportunities, high medí–
cal expense- situations that de–
mand almost immediate solution.
Mother goes to work and the pre–
school children go into sorne kind
of day-care o r nu rsery-school
arrangement. Right or wrong,
thcse are today's emergency tac–
tics.
1n the past thirty years, apart
from emergencies, the number of
women in the labor force has
increased dramati–
cally. Far beyond
the emergency needs
of their families.
Why? Besides more
opportunity, a major
factor
is
that
women, along with
men, have been de–
luded in this society
to believe that
mate-
~
rialistic gain
is the
t
primary measure of
!
success. Working in
~
a home environment
does not reap the
immediate rewards
offered in tbe busi–
ness world. A nd
o
l
1
~
.!
6
~
women, just as
much as men, want
and need to enjoy
feelings of self-worth too often
missing in cramped urban apar t–
ments.
Also, women's value as the pri–
mary nurturers and educators of
their children has been down–
graded. Psychologists and others
use such terms as "smother !ove"
and .. momism" to describe
motherhood. Women who choose
to stay home with their children
feel they are expected to apolo–
gize for their occupation . Even on
legal forms a distinction is made
between women who "work" and
housewives.
With most of the responsibili–
ties of parenthood thrust upon
them and the importance of this
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