American women undoubtedly have more options and opportunities available to them than at any previous point in American history. Yet with that increased menu of options comes increased responsibility.
In the past women generally didn’t expect to work. And if they did work, they fell into their jobs out of necessity, almost by accident. Or if they always did expect to work, they were relegated to jobs that were considered “women’s work” for pocket money, not salaries that could win bread…
Not anymore. Sure, some women are stay-at-home wives and stay-at-home mothers and that choice is still on the menu of options. The difference, however, is that that’s not what women are naturally expected to do anymore – be financially supported by their men and serving as full-time angels of the home.
Women today have a personal responsibility to prepare themselves for a career and to pursue financial autonomy. For some women, (me included,) this is a no-brainer and that’s what they desire anyway. But other women need to have a plan in case winning the lottery or being Prince Charming’s stay-at-home wife doesn’t work out. Life happens and there is no greater ticket to poverty than two kids, no job, and no job skills. And more and more Prince Charmings want their wives to work anyway.
Angels of the home in the Victorian sense, while they still exist, have fallen out of fashion, and women have been accepted into the wider world and its possibilities. Yet with greater opportunity comes greater responsibility. Women today can choose to be whatever they want to be, but they have to be prepared to bring home the bacon too.
