Equal Rights: Up In Smoke?

By: Pamela Beers
Submitted: 2007-01-17 10:58:01
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Whoever said being equal is a good thing? In the late 60's, 1968 to be exact, women were crying, "EQUAL RIGHTS", wanting to be treated equally to men. Why? As a woman, I prefer being special rather than equal. Now, men expect women to hold the door open for them. Dates presume women will send them flowers.

The only time I get a box of chocolates is when there is a "two-for-the-price-of-one" sale at our local pharmacy...one box for me and one box for my husband. It reminds me of the slogan on the back of the box of Cheeze-Its..."Get Your Own Box". By the way, I love Cheeze-Its almost as much as I love chocolate.

Well, ladies, you've ruined everything. All of you libbers out there have put us into a position where we still aren't getting comparable pay with men, but are expected to dig ditches, go to war, slop the hogs, and bring home the bacon. This is in addition to keeping the house clean, grocery shopping, and preparing healthy meals.

It may come as a surprise to many of you, but the original intent of the women's rights movement began as a means to help men deal with the daily stress of being the sole breadwinner in the family. The idea was for both spouses to work outside the home and then come home and share household chores and child-rearing responsibilities. In theory it was a good idea.

Having been born in the early 40's and raised in the 50's and 60's, women of my generation were expected to stay home, raise a family, keep the house clean, and have a well-balanced meal prepared three times a day. I still do that but now I also have to bring home a paycheck. That would be fine except most men of my generation think their only responsibility is to contribute financially to the household. Most of them are totally lost in the kitchen. They are unable to find a bottle of ketchup in the refrigerator if it isn't eye-level.

Men born in the 60's have learned to help out at home...well most of them anyway. There appears to be a concerted effort on the part of men of this generation to want to share responsibilities. However, there is a trade-off. Men expect more from women such as alimony in the case of a divorce. There's a laugh for you (unless you're a man).

Think about it. I have a friend who is a successful attorney making a six-figure income. Her husband decided to quit his job because she made more money than he did. Instead of working, he played golf and basked in the sun, after a "strenuous" day on the links, enjoying his new life. She divorced him because he contributed zip to the marriage. She now has to pay him alimony while he continues to fancy his recently acquired lifestyle.

So ladies, the next time you want to burn your bras in protest, expecting to earn equal pay for a job that totally stresses you out (if you can find a good paying job in today's economy), or deal with raising teenagers by yourself, think twice. Who needs that responsibility? Who wants to be equal to men? As cute and adorable as some of them may be, women are definitely above standard male issue. It's probably because of that defective Y chromosome men have.

Why lower yourselves ladies? You did that back in the 60's when you burned your double-barreled slingshots.

Copyright © 2006 by Pamela Beers. All rights reserved.

Pamela Beers is a freelance writer and educator whose curmudgeonly opinions are being considered for book publication. You may visit her website at http://www.pamelabeers.com for writing and marketing tips.

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