Strength, Feminism, and the Housewife

In our current culture lexicon, there are several images that are equated with the strong modern woman.

There is the butch woman, who supposedly rejects society's definition of what is feminine - but isn't she really just validating it by doing the polar opposite, still allowing it to define her by her need to contradict it?

There is the bombastic woman, who is willing to ride out any day as naked as Lady Godiva and do whatever she damn well pleases, forget being ladylike or conscientious of others' opinions. She is proud of the fact that she is loud and boisterous, and can outdrink or outcuss any man.

There is the liberated woman, who is unabashedly single and touts the fact that she can be with who she wants, when she wants. Her motto is 'I don't need a man', and she prides herself on her extensive wardrobe and nightlife. She constantly advises her friends that every choice is alright, as long as you're having fun. After all, they're only young once.


The point of this blog, however, is not to say anything about these ways of life except that they are overappreciated by the media, while undermining the value of another very large group of women: domestic women. The term 'housewife' in particular has come to be stigmatized by mainstream culture. If someone were to come into our culture completely dry and watch e few episodes of "Real Housewives" (any city), it's highly doubtful that a housewife would be high on their list of things to aspire to be.

While not to say that the ideal women has to have the same demure Mrs. Brady image valued in previous decades, has it come to the point that we in fact ascribe no value to simplicity, to a low-key lifestyle, or family-oriented life choices? Has the feminist movement, which advocated the fact that a woman can be more than a wife and mother, evolved into a monster which forces upon us the idea that being a wife and mother is something without value?

The heart of the feminist movement was that a woman has a choice to be what she pleases without being branded or stigmatized for it - yet now in the 2000's the simple woman and the housewife are stigmatized much like the flapper was stigmatized in the 1920's.

Our culture defines women so much by their social lives, by how 'fierce' they look when they go out, by how far they can push the envelope - and this is an image that alienates a great deal of strong women today who are committed to their jobs or their families.

Are 'fierce' women necessarily stronger women? Are simple women necessarily weaker women?
Is the young woman who works an office job all day then comes home to take care of her family worth any less than the woman who works retail all day then comes home to get dressed and hit the town with her girls?

Is the woman who chooses to get married worth any less than the woman who says she doesn't need a man in her life?

Is the woman who bargain shops for all of her clothes so she can pay the bills and and be a provider worth any less than the woman who is always dressed to the nines and perfectly accessorized?

Modern culture says yes. What do you say?