Why is it important to Feminists to work outside the home?

Question

I completely agree that every woman should be educated, as that's only the responsible thing to do since you will be educating your child. However, I don't see the necessity for a woman to work outside of the home. If you have a passion for a certain career then the goal should be to make it into a career you can do from home while taking care of your children. These are your children after all and no one else is better equipped to take care of them but you. So why is it so important for Feminist for women to work outside of the home?

Also I'm sure I will receive these answers and here is what I think of them:

MONEY (Can't afford to live off of one income, don't want to be poor, etc.): When God chooses to give you a child He will also provide means for you to take care of that child. Granted it might now be a luxurious life but that is not what is important.

I WOULD GET BORED OR LONELY BEING AT HOME ALL DAY: This answer saddens me. Having and taking care of children should be seen as one of the highest honors any adult could ask for. Just because you are at home with your child does not mean you can't do your own thing or have interaction with other adults.

I WANT FULFILLMENT IN MY LIFE, I DON’T WANT TO BE JUST A HOUSEWIFE (or “barefoot and pregnant”): Another answer that saddens me. We should be putting our children and our futures before ourselves. You can still get plenty of fulfillments while being at home, especially when the child/ren is in school.

WHAT IF (HUSBAND DIES, LEAVES, ETC.): First of all, divorce is not an option and shouldn't be. So that problem is solved. Now if the husband becomes disabled or dies, that is why the family should be saving money, for such an occasion.

Answer 1

They buy into Betty Friedan's lie that the housewife is a leech and that a woman is only worth something if she's earning money.

At one point my husband and I thought we *needed* two incomes. Then we realized that the more you bring home, the more you want or think you need...people will typically try to live beyond their means.

We moved into a cheaper apartment...we cut our living expenses almost in HALF. The minute we moved, it seemed, I became pregnant with our son. We've been living on one income for a few years now and it works out...you have to put NEEDS before WANTS.

I believe that a woman should work outside the home only if it's necessary.

Answer 2

Why can't the man find a way to stay at home with the children, I mean he is the father and who better equipped to care for his children than himself.

It's so important because not all women want to have children and stay at home. Many women don't want children at all, many women don't want to give up or alter a perfectly fulfilling career just because they have had a child.

I would argue with you saying a mother is the best to care for her child. It disregards all of the mothers who abuse and/or neglect their children as well as all the mothers who turn a blind eye when their children are abused. These women shouldn't be caring for children even if they gave birth to them. It also ignores people who may be absolutely wonderful with children but for some reason or another are unable to have their own, not everyone can be teachers and I'm sure many people enjoy spending their day working with children at a day care of some sorts.

And god does not always provide ways to care for a child, when you make 12k a year, between two people and a third person comes along it doesn't mean your income will automatically go up or you'll have gifts raining down from heaven, it means you'll have three people living off of 12k a year.

EDIT: so even if the husband is an abusive drunk who spends his entire paycheck on booze and comes home to beat/rape his wife they shouldn't get a divorce? Or let me guess, a husband never rapes his wife because she is supposed to satisfy him and she was in the wrong for denying him pleasure?

Answer 3

I'm an opera singer, how exactly can I do that in my home with my son? I can't. Do you think that women's only passions should be for things like typing? Beyond that, not all of us may be as privileged as you or I. Tell me how a single mother, or a widow is going to make ends meat without working outside the home? Even if you can find a job from home, you still are working. Very few professions (even ones that you do from the house) allot you the liberty of working and taking care of the children at the same time. And I would pose to you this question: why is more important for the mother to stay home versus the father? My husband wants to be a stay-at-home dad in a few years and I'm all for it. There is no reason that he shouldn't and I should. Both parents are equally as important to a child.
My last point, some kids really enjoy daycare. My son is one of them. I was terrified to put him in daycare after being a stay at home mom for a year, but he loves it. He loves being with other kids, he loves going new places, he's learning new things at a tremendous speed to the point where even a daycare fearer like myself has to admit that it's been a good thing. You need to remember that everyone's situation is different and even if people would like things to be one way, it can't always happen. Your narrow mindedness and lack of empathy and consideration for people in different situations just exposes how ignorant you and your line of reasoning is.

Oh yea, and in response to your "solution" that divorce SHOULDN'T be an option and therefore that problem is "solved", that's just stupid. You can't just write off something that's REALITY because you disagree with it sweetheart. So it IS something to consider.

Answer 4

This is a ludicrous question. Do you actually think it's the feminist agenda to get all women working outside the home? Do you know anyone that says, "I need to get a job to advance feminist ideals"? Um, no.

Women are not working outside the home just to make a point. It's about choice. It's about being raised in an environment where you have more choices than a secretary or a housewife. It's about opportunity to do what you want to do without other people's restrictions on your life.

I'm a stay at home mom, and I'm WAYYYYYYYYYY more of a feminist than my other two sisters, both of whom are mothers and have very successful careers. They aren't feminists. One is a breadwinner and would like to stay home and take care of her kids, but her husband is a professor and doesn't make much money. She's a brilliant scientist and has a very lucrative and meaningful career developing drugs that fight cancer. The other is an urban planner and should stay at home for financial reasons (her entire salary goes to day care) but she works because she loves it and staying home with her kids drives her batty.

I am a stay at home mom who put her career on hold because I didn't want to send my children to day care because it just didn't feel right to me.

So honestly I have no idea what you're talking about when you say that working outside the home is important to feminists. No idea at all.

Answer 5

That's a very personal position and I don't condem or condone other people because I don't know their motives. I never had kids so it was never an issue for me and my husband. My 2 best friends from college both gave up their careers when they had children. One of them got divorced recently and is having a very hard time financially. She's finding it difficult to get good work as she's been out of the work place for such a long time. I don't think it's a feminist issue, both of them are staunch feminists, i think it's a personal choice.

Answer 6

You say that like women’s only purpose in life is to have babies and raise children. If that’s what you choose, then great for you, but don’t try to lay your 1950’s dogma on the rest of society.

Your assertion also does not take into account women who’s husband has left them (I sincerely hope your’s doesn’t), and they have no choice but to work outside the home.

You also don’t take into account women who’s “passion for a certain career” is something that cannot be done from within the home, i.e., becoming a lawyer, a reporter, etc.

Your comments also state that “no one else is better equipped to take care of them (children) than you”. Don’t you think fathers are “equipped” to take care of their children? If your husband doesn’t know how to change diapers or cook mac and cheese for the little ones, fine – you do it. But there are plenty of men out there who are great fathers. Don’t assume that you’re better just because you’re a woman.

EDIT: Your additional arguments are all pathetic.

Families cannot always live on one income. Not all husbands make enough money to support the whole family.

Families will save as much money as they can. Again, not every man will make enough money to have a savings account.

Just because having babies is "the greatest honor" to you, does not mean that other women want this.

Answer 7

My reasons for working outside the home have to do with the fact my children had grown accustomed to living indoors. They also enjoyed autonomy, self respect and education. My ancestors have historically always worked outside of the home. It was only wealthy or middle class women who were allowed the luxury of staying home. Most poor were forced to do what they could to keep body and soul together.
I have always said that it is not the amount of time spent with the child but the quality. My children are all close to being adults or adults. They are well adjusted, extremely intelligent compassionate, spiritual and kind. What more can a mother teach?

Answer 8

Your question is not very clear. Why is it important for me to work outiside of the home, or why is it important for ALL women to work outside of the home?
For me, I would be bored out of my mind as well as I would feel like a waste of space if I did not have a job outside of the home. I do not plan on having children ever, so that aspect is irrelevant to me. My fiance would also hate being the sole breadwinner.
For ALL women, I don't care what other women do. Work outside of the home, stay home. I don't care. Just don't tell me what I should do.

I would also like to point out that just because someone gives birth, it does not mean they're best equipped to care for a child. Look at Burtney Spurs for crying out loud.

I think you need to worry about your own life instead of sitting her telling other people what they should do. Who do you think you are? Seriously.

Answer 9

whether to work or stay home is a choice each individual woman has to make. as a feminist, I don't judge these choices at all. i see the benefits of staying home with children. unfortunately, if a woman makes the choice to stay home, she is at a higher risk for poverty later in life, because if she and her husband divorce, guess who has a career and who doesn't? and, realistically, a lot of people get divorced. we can't just be completely romantic about everything. women have to be a little pragmatic, too. having some sort of career is a huge asset. who wants to go back out into the work place at 40? it can be done, but still. it's better to start as early as you can. stay at home moms are not able to do this and this is where the risk lies.

Answer 10

First of all, there are many professionals well-equipped, better than most moms, to take of of children. Lots of moms think that they are the heroines of their childrens lives because they are expected to be nurturing. I've seen lots of moms handle child-rearing in odd ways but it shows up when their children enter the school system, so lighten-up that you are the superwoman for your children. Secondly, all women should experience the workforce outside the home to become socialized in the adult world. Many homemakers don't have an "out" besides their kids. Its important to have adult relationships.

Answer 11

Why was it important to me? Before I got married and after I left home, who would have taken care of me if I hadn't been able to work outside of the home? What would I do with my time if I hadn't had children? What do I do with my time when my children reach the point of their lives where they don't need their mom to educate them? How would I take care of myself and my kids if my husband were unable to work or died? What's the point of higher education if I can't use it? Not all jobs that women will want to do will be able to be done from home.

And also: WE ARE MORE THEN HOUSEKEEPERS, WIVES AND MOTHERS. Why should we be limited to just that?

Just because that is YOUR belief system doesn't mean it should be the only one or that it is the right one. I find it funny that the anti feminists think it is ok for them to tell us what we SHOULD do, but get all pissy when they think feminists are doing it to them.

I'm not buying into anyone's lies. To be quite honest, I have a very small maternal urge/instinct. Yes, I have kids and I love them very much, but I identify myself as more then their mother and my husband's wife. I am ME, I am MORE then wife and mother. I'm not saying that wife and mother are lesser things, I'm just saying that I, personally, want to be more then just wife and mother. I'm not happy being at home all the time taking care of the kids and the house. I need more then that to feel accomplished. Why is it ok to want to be a wife and mother, but not ok to want more then that, too? I'm only going to be needed as a mother full time for just a few more years, what am I supposed to do beyond that? What's wrong with me wanting to be able to contribute more then housekeeping to my family? Why am I such a bad person for wanting to be more then wife and mother? Why can't I be more then that? Why can I only be limited to wife and mother when the other half of the population can be more then husband, provider, and father? What makes me so much less then my husband that I can't go and make of myself what he can go and make of himself? And why do you feel that I can only limit what I can make of myself to things that I can only do out of my home? Why is it that I, the evil feminist, can accept someone's choice to stay at home with their kids, and take care of the house and not need or want anything beyond that even though it isn't what I choose, but people who believe that being a wife and mother is the only thing women should be can't accept other women's choices if they go against what they would choose?