Posted by lindes on November 07, 2003 at 14:14:24:
In Reply to: Answer to Question posted by Reality Guy on November 06, 2003 at 12:12:48:
First of all Reality Guy, stay at home mothers DO (should) work - the term "work" is not exclusive for those with "jobs" outside the home.
To address the point about the government paying women to stay home - I've already posted that I don't know what the perfect plan would be for that, but because of what you posted about your sister, I have to say that no, I don't think any governmental compensation should be given to SAHMs whose partners earn very large salaries; likewise, I don't think that uneducated, consistently welfare-dependent mothers with several children should be allowed to qualify for SAH compensation. The REAL segment of society that deserves compensation is the middle class - the moms who have made the smart choice to stay home full-time, to homeschool their child(ren), take care of all home and family business, and work hard all day at their chosen career of homemaker, while their husbands work hard at their jobs to provide for the family and whose income is between twenty and seventy-five thousand $ per year. But again, I'm not sure how to insure that SAHMs are doing their jobs at home so that they might fairly receive the compensation. People will protest this idea, but seem not to care about welfare bums.
You couldn't be more wrong about society looking up to stay at home mothers. Where ever did you get that idea??
It probably is true that overall, people tend to think that women are more adequate homemakers, but in these times, more and more women are completely worthless as wives, mothers, and homemakers.
I don't like what you say about "train the guy to do household chores/tasks. Make a list and require that it be done." - sounds childish, (although I know from what I've heard that there are lots of guys who are absolute slobs - it's just something I've not had to deal with personally). I think the ideal is that male children be taught by their parents from the beginning to be responsible, including being neat and clean. Yes, more men are staying home, but let's face it, men simply are not comfortable with the role of homemaker and should not be - it is the nature of the males species to seek employment and provide for his family. The lucky ones are those who can earn a great living that enables them to be at home and spend a lot of quality time with their family. I'm just against the whole idea of mothers working outside the home when their children are young.
You are correct about television - Tim Taylor, Ray Barone are bumbling fools most of the time, BUT what about Jill and Debra? While I haven't regularly watched a lot of the sitcoms today, those two characters are often portrayed as nagging shrews who can be hateful and domineering. Not a flattering portrayal of SAHMs. (And on a side note, I think Debra Barone has to be one of the worst tv homemakers ever - what's with all the JUNK around the house and what does she do all day long?)
Your last paragraph is not worthy of retort.