Very true, I think it is about the choice. This is still very relevant. When my youngest aunt told people she was going to stay home with her kids... my mom was the only person suporting her.
One of my aunts has a Master's degree in education but has been a stay at home mom for the past 10 years. Now that her youngest is going to school, everyone's giving her shit about not going back to work, and I feel so bad for her.
I loved Julia Stiles and this role really cemented that love for me. I went all through my very progressive and liberal high school feeling like I was somehow a "freak" because my inner dream was to be a stay at home mom. I was in the top 5% of my class, I took all AP courses, got a large scholarship for school and graduated magna cum laude from an honors program at my college. I work and will most likely work my entire life
( ... )
I have very mixed feelings about having children, but I know personally I wouldn't be a good stay-at-home mom simply because I'm kind of a selfish person (which is also why I'm not real sure about having kids.) But I see my friends pay out astronomical amounts of money for child care and I just wonder, "What's the point in working if you're paying everything out to daycare and babysitters?"
We never had money growing up, but my dad was always home since he was disabled. And it still shocks me that, even though he couldn't work, people still judged him hard for staying home with us because he was the man and how dare my mother be the one who worked?
Sometimes the entire feminist movement just aggravates me because it seems like there's only one flavor/one opinion/one belief, and if you drift away from it, then you're a bad feminist.
I think for a long time the feminist movement was so geared toward one ideal or goal that once that was achieved (for the most part), people lost sight of what it was really about. That it's not just about being allowed to work in the same jobs while getting the same salary that a man would; it's about having the same options that men have. It's very parallel to the gay marriage situation right now where everyone's argument against it tends to be on what it will do to the future of marriage or how this will lead to other problems, but no one is looking at the fact that how things are now is discriminating against a whole sect of people for the sake of "tradition".
I've known I've wanted to be a mom for as long as I can remember... which is kind of weird, but I think some people just have that instinctual desire to be a parent. It is the same way I feel about teaching. I guess I've always known I wanted to devote my life to children.
I love you even more for picking this character. I myself most identified with Joan when watching the movie, though it's actually Kirsten Dunst's character that most moves me when I think back on it, but I absolutely loved, loved, LOVED that it showed all the sides, all the options, and that those who pursue what is right for them--whatever that may be, are the happy ones in the end.
The other thing I liked about it was how it turns Dead Poets Society on its ear...the teacher wasn't the one who was most correct. Because there aren't simple answers like that; life is complicated, and everyone's path is different, and just YES. This is the part of feminism I like, when it's emphasized correctly
( ... )
I think, of all the characters, I related the most to Connie, and I also loved that they showed all sides.
One of my roommates from college, who is one of the smartest, most driven women I've ever met, just found out she's pregnant, and she's already quit her job because all she's ever wanted is to be a SAHM. And on the one hand I know it's all she's ever wanted, but on the other, I can't help but thinking it's such a waste because she could literally do anything.
I think there is some sort of odd perception that raising healthy, contributing members of society is somehow not as important as anything else a person could do. Often there are enough years in a person's life to have multiple successes, child rearing just being part of it. I'm particularly admiring of those who could do anything and choose that; it makes me feel like the universe has revealed a truth to them that not everyone else is privy to.
I think what frustrates me (especially in ASOIAF fandom) is that you have to pick one or the other. If you're a "feminine" character, then that's all you can be; if you're a "tomboy," then you must hate everything feminine. It's like there can never be a balance.
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We never had money growing up, but my dad was always home since he was disabled. And it still shocks me that, even though he couldn't work, people still judged him hard for staying home with us because he was the man and how dare my mother be the one who worked?
Sometimes the entire feminist movement just aggravates me because it seems like there's only one flavor/one opinion/one belief, and if you drift away from it, then you're a bad feminist.
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I've known I've wanted to be a mom for as long as I can remember... which is kind of weird, but I think some people just have that instinctual desire to be a parent. It is the same way I feel about teaching. I guess I've always known I wanted to devote my life to children.
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The other thing I liked about it was how it turns Dead Poets Society on its ear...the teacher wasn't the one who was most correct. Because there aren't simple answers like that; life is complicated, and everyone's path is different, and just YES. This is the part of feminism I like, when it's emphasized correctly ( ... )
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One of my roommates from college, who is one of the smartest, most driven women I've ever met, just found out she's pregnant, and she's already quit her job because all she's ever wanted is to be a SAHM. And on the one hand I know it's all she's ever wanted, but on the other, I can't help but thinking it's such a waste because she could literally do anything.
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