Thread: Women in the Workplace; A Retrospective Look...

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We seem to have a few “thinkers” on this board, so I thought I’d test the waters and pose this question…

Now, before we begin this debate I would like to assure everyone reading this post that even though this sounds like a woman bashing thread – it’s not.
The very topic is bound to bring a little heat from both sides, but I would again like to repeat: I’m not a male chauvinist pig…
even though this will probably make me sound like one.

Now, on to the topic at hand: Was it a good idea to let women take on a bread-winning role that has been traditionally held by men?
I have some observations on this and will “voice” them now…

The pros: women allowed to have an option other then being a housewife/stay at home mom – this is a good thing in my opinion. For a long time women were at the mercy of their working husbands, basically because they had no other choice. Or, the choices as I see them were; become a “Lady of the Night” or leave your current hubby for another one that may be better then what you just left. Not a dice roll I’d want to have to make…

Second; the extra money that comes with having a two income household. This was a blessing I’m sure to a lot of families that were living from paycheck to paycheck.

The cons: With the average household drawing two incomes now, the cost of living has gone through the roof – because the myth is that households can now “afford it”. So what was a windfall of income back when this first started has now become “the norm”…
Talk about coming around to bite you in the ass.

Second; latch-key kids, with moms now needing to work to help out their strapped household budget, children are being forced into a more “adult” role of caring for themselves in many ways. This leaves a lot of kids without parental supervision/guidance so they run amok causing all sorts of trouble – or – what I like to call “electronic babysitters” start to come into play as televisions & game consoles start to take the place of “parental wisdom”…
Just look at what it’s brought us to today.

Third; the loss of “kitchen skills” – this one hits me hard, mainly because I have a serious passion for food and to see us become a “thaw, heat & serve” society fills me with shame.
Not to mention all the recipes that will no longer be handed down from mother to daughter as they were in the past – just thinking about all that lost knowledge makes my heart break a little bit…

Growing up in the ‘70’s & ‘80’s allowed me to see these changes come about – and now living in the ‘90’s and beyond I can now see why America is having the troubles that it’s having – we did this to ourselves folks.
I know it’s easy to armchair quarterback this now, hindsight being 20/20 and all that, but it really makes me wonder if this was a good idea after all…

Thoughts? Comments?

More wondering why you decided to post this on a Halloween forum, granted it is Off-Topic.

You did state things very nicely to not offend too much.

My one reaction, yes men are still working, but in a good household and marriage the household duties need to be shared now. It was inevitable for women to work, if it didn't happen in the 50's-60's it would have happened in the 70's.

There are many stay at home dad's now and I applaud them.

People need to get priorities straight sometimes when you're home it's home, leave work at the office, put the cell phone away from yourself, play games, at least watch TV together.

There's no going back. Don't think of what if's.

If I ever have kids I will still work, but when I come home that's my time with them. Also with the baking/cooking issue, if those things aren't being passed down that's their loss. I grew up in the 80's-90's with a working mom and we still cooked together and I love to cook/bake now and will do the same with my kids. Like I said it's prioritizing.

Third; the loss of “kitchen skills” – this one hits me hard, mainly because I have a serious passion for food and to see us become a “thaw, heat & serve” society fills me with shame.
Not to mention all the recipes that will no longer be handed down from mother to daughter as they were in the past – just thinking about all that lost knowledge makes my heart break a little bit…"

I find this odd i dunno if your saying the wife should do all the cooking or what...

Well im gonna say this im a man and i like to cook if it takes until 9pm at night for the food to cook then it takes that long. Thing is this if you like to eat you have to learn to cook. Its not rocket science trust me It might not be gourmet every night though. To be honest i do ALL the cooking. Women are not the only great cooks on the globe

Originally Posted by MrsMyers666

People need to get priorities straight sometimes when you're home it's home, leave work at the office, put the cell phone away from yourself, play games, at least watch TV together.

I agree completely with this statement. Even without kids, spending time together is what keeps relationships alive.


With divorce rates the way they are, women need to have the skills to be able to compete in the workplace. Nothing is garanteed to be forever and everyone needs to be able to support themselves if something were to go wrong.

MrsMyers666: I posted this in a Halloween forum because I’m a Horror/Halloween nut – and these are the types of forums I frequent…
I looked for a Deep Discussion area, but not finding one defaulted to the Off-Topic one.
And if I offended I do deeply apologize – that was not my intent…
As you stated: I tried very hard to word this topic in a “neutral” manner – and stated in the beginning of the thread that I knew breaching this subject would likely draw frowns…
I’m not an educated man, and worded this to the best my limited education allowed.
I just enjoy a good debate – that’s all…
Thank you for your thoughts/participating in the discussion…

Toetag: I don’t think the woman in the household should do all the cooking – that in my opinion is very “backwards thinking”…
I do however still believe that when it comes to skills in the kitchen – women have an edge over men. Mostly because of what I stated above: throughout the generations they have had more guidance/practice in this department…
I’m 3rd generation American, and I really had to take a lot of heat from the men in my family when I helped out my grandmother in the kitchen during family holidays – and will be forever grateful for her teaching me things that to this day I’ve never seen in a cookbook…
She was the reason I wanted to be a chief when I was younger, and also the reason I asked for an Easy Bake Oven instead of a football for x-mass one year -
You can guess how that went over in my family…
And for the record: I also do all the cooking in my house, it’s not that The Squeeze can’t cook – it’s just that aside from loving to do it, I get home before she does and like eating at a reasonable hour…
She also enjoys the free time it affords her.
I’d be curious to know what “your dish” is – everybody has at least one that they do rather well…

LHALLOW: I agree with the statement as well – in fact; I’d bet that it’s because of the divorce rates that the women’s movement even went in that direction…
I mean, living out in the street because you lost your “bread winner” had to be a terrifying thought looming inside a woman’s head for all those years – becoming self sufficient is never a bad thing in my eyes…

Originally Posted by Toetag

Third; the loss of “kitchen skills” – this one hits me hard, mainly because I have a serious passion for food and to see us become a “thaw, heat & serve” society fills me with shame.
Not to mention all the recipes that will no longer be handed down from mother to daughter as they were in the past – just thinking about all that lost knowledge makes my heart break a little bit…"

I find this odd i dunno if your saying the wife should do all the cooking or what...

Well im gonna say this im a man and i like to cook if it takes until 9pm at night for the food to cook then it takes that long. Thing is this if you like to eat you have to learn to cook. Its not rocket science trust me It might not be gourmet every night though. To be honest i do ALL the cooking. Women are not the only great cooks on the globe

I agree. Men are great cooks/chefs. Some of the most well known chefs are men, it's been harder for women to break out chef wise with the celebrity the men have.

I’d be curious to know what “your dish” is – everybody has at least one that they do rather well…

Well theres a few i like to do not b/c they are easy but i have a taste for them. I make a mean chili and beans,chili dogs,pound cake,lemon poppy seed cake with a lemon glaze,brunswick stew(will drive the cold weather out or kill the flu lol),pepper steak when i can find bell peppers that are worth a hoot. Nothing out of a pack or box though on those all homemade. Dont get me wrong theres out of box stuff also but whats the fun in that you know OH i make a mean meat ball too but if i had to choose it would be brunswick stew when i can find a good cut of pork.

Wow - 100 views, and only three takers...???
Well, I guess I'll just keep my "deep" debates to myself then -

I figured with the age bracket we have here that this topic would take off like a housecat on fire...
(and no, for the record: I do NOT condone the lighting of housepets on fire)

Sorry folks, I guess I just misread this place, but you don't know if you don't ask - right...?



Sidenote: Thank you for showing me how to spell 'chef' by the way- I may not be educated - but I'm a very quick study...

I like a good debate, but I'd rather do it in person.
I feel if it is done on a forum someone might misunderstand what I'm trying to say.

But I will say this, I know a lot of husbands and wifes that work and have happy marriages.
My wife works because, as she says, she feels like she is contributing more to the family.
She is happy which makes me happy.

Originally Posted by Gwynplaine

Sorry folks, I guess I just misread this place

So are you assuming that because we choose not to debate on what YOU consider to be a "deep" topic that we are not deep thinkers??? Personally, I believe there is a difference between initiating a debate and instigating what you know will be strong emotional responses, and this topic seems to more of the latter.