Why NOT to Marry a Career Woman

[rm]

Meanwhile, there is this appalling/interesting slideshow on Forbes.com -- "Why NOT to Marry a Career Woman."

http://www.forbes.com/2006/07/25/cx_mn_singles06_destined_misery_slide.html

I'll reserve my commentary for a bit. I want to see you all duke it out.


Completely unrelated, but just as much up my nose: Ugh, I hate when gender norms amongst reenactors bite me. I'm just trying to avoid having to make my own breeches, but a woman? in breeches? horror! I may have to make my own. Am annoyed.

Comments

[storyjen.livejournal.com]

Interesting how I read some of the first parts of it from the economic angle:

If a woman has a successful career, she has more money and more choices about what she can do with her life. Therefore:

1) She can support herself, and won't feel survival pressure to marry any old slob of a man so he can support her;

2) If her marriage is bullshit, she can leave, instead of feeling survival pressure to stay in an unhappy situation because she fears she can't support herself (or her kids);

3) If her marriage is bullshit, she may well cheat, instead of sucking it up and taking it;

4) She may feel she has more purposes to her life instead of automatically being relegated to being a baby machine (and the choice to leave or resist effectively if she gets any unwanted baby pressure from spouse/relatives/etc.);

5) She might actually expect that her husband might take an equitable share of the chores (especially since she works just as many hours as he does);

and on and on.

I know I'm phrasing all of this according to the grossest stereotypes of Strong Working Woman and Helpless Non-Working Woman, and I apologize; I know people are more complicated than that. I'm trying to point out that having a career may be part of a woman's having structured her sense of her own agency in her life differently, but doing it in a kind of sloppy way. I'm mostly just pissed. There are lots of ways of interpreting the few actual data that were presented in that report; the writers just slapped on an apallingly misogynistic interpretation. I don't know who they think their readers are looking for as spouses, but clearly it's not "a partner" in any sense that I'm used to hearing the word. Somewhere between "a body servant" and "a Mommy," maybe, but not a partner.

Ew. Ew ew ew.

[graene.livejournal.com]

It would be nice to see this from the women's perspective - "reasons to be a career woman" and tips on finding the housefather man.