features@ihuxf.UUCP (aMAZon) (10/06/86)
P.M.Pincha-Wagener writes in answer to the discussion about protesting, or not protesting, that Kathy and Cheryl introduced: > ...But there are a few areas that > feminist should be praising more -- for instance women who choose > to be just mothers. Non-working mothers shouldn't be looked down on > like some do.... -- BUT only when they have chosen freely.... Maybe it's semantics, but I've rarely run into mothers who *don't* work. Perhaps they don't work outside the home, or perhaps they don't bring in a paycheck (and their numbers are fewer and fewer), but they do work. I taught a class to high school women called "Cultural Separation of the Male and Female". The students knew me for a feminist; they thought I was totally against women being "just housewives". By the end of the class, they realized that I was not against housewives, but for choice in the matter. If the individual chose her path freely, then I would support her, whether it be in the boardroom, the kitchen, the church, the school, or on the road. It took a long time to get over the prejudice against feminism that my students had acquired. They found, though, that far from being man-hating creatures, feminists (male or female) supported equal opportunities for everyone. The students found themselves in agreement, once their own rhetoric machines (protesting!) had stopped. Having respect for other people, no matter what their circumstances, goes a long way towards engendering respect for oneself. -- aMAZon @ AT&T Bell Labs, Naperville, IL; ihnp4!ihuxf!features *It's never too late to have a happy childhood*