Fuck Yeah! Feminism

Today I had the joy of having an excruciating conversation with a particularly pretentious individual.  I won’t get into all of the messy details, so I’ll get straight to what I found so repulsive and disheartening about what he had to say.

Apparently, the woman who he marries, will have no choice in whether she wants to have a career or be a stay at home mom (when they have kids, because apparently that is not up for discussion either?).  The idea that a woman would want to stay at home and “sit on their ass watching soaps” all day is appalling.  What is appalling to me, is that this young man claims to be liberal, and in favour of equality, but refuses to give his hypothetical wife the option to stay home with their hypothetical non-negotiable children, or work.  A woman who chooses to stay at home with her children is repulsive and lazy, and, according to this individual, is only capable of watching soaps.  Clearly he has no idea what the word “equality” actually means, or what being a parent actually entails.

I personally am of the opinion that it is a personal decision as to whether a mother or father chooses to stay home with their children (or if they even want to have children, for that matter), and that either choice is perfectly acceptable.  Being a stay at home parent is not an easy, soap filled position.  It is stressful, exhausting, and incredibly time consuming, just like any other job, maybe even more so.

What is really distressing, is that someone who apparently says they desire equality, and for women to have the choice, is so willing to deny women that same right to choose. 

This was just one of the many moments where I sat, saying to myself, “What the what?!”