The New Feminist

As a feminist, I believe women are equal to men. I firmly believe women should have the same rights, opportunities, and advantages. I am a proponent of women's reproductive rights, and I am a firm supporter of women's pursuit of education. As a feminist though, I am a bit disturbed at the new attitude of those that also ascribe themselves to my group. There seems to be a certain faction of feminists that believe all formerly deemed "female" pursuits are to be avoided, and that men should be the newly appointed slaves of the world.

I know of one couple in particular in which the wife doesn't work while her husband holds 2-3 jobs at a time. She will not be told what to do, even to the point of refusing his requests to stop spending from the shared checking account. She consistently over-drafts the account and seems to have no apologies. When he tries to persuade her to work, she says that she can't possible be degraded to work in jobs less than her supposed status even though they greatly need the money.

At home, the woman refuses to do any work around the house and uses as her defense the guise of feminism. If she cooks, she feels she is surrendering to the will of her husband. I resent women such as this one using feminism as an excuse for their apparent laziness. Feminism does not mean sitting idly back while your partner shoulders all the work and home burdens. To do this is to commit the same crimes that men were guilty of committing for so many years.

What is more, I think that women who refuse to do all housework or other formally deemed female jobs are really putting themselves at a disadvantage. The skills of the home are important and useful ones that both men and women should be able to possess. Not being able to boil a hot dog for fear of being put upon makes you sad, not admirable in my opinion.

Why can't women be masters of both the home and the workplace? I admire women like my mother who are able to sew, decorate, cook, clean, etc. with such ease and efficiency. There is something to be said for these talents. They have worth. When we scoff at them, we are no better than the men of the past generations that we fought against.

Feminism is not an excuse for us to enslave the male race or for us to sit idly by gaining no skills on the home front.

The Importance of Teachers

Due to the recent drive to reduce teachers' rights and take away their ability to negotiate for benefits and pensions, I have come to realize that lack of importance many in this country place on teachers. Perhaps I am biased, but I think teachers have a tremendous stake in the overall current and future success of this country. Teachers, from kindergarten through college, instruct our youth and impart to them the knowledge that keeps America running. The education of our young people directly impacts our economic success. Therefore, I find it perplexing when people are lamenting how much public school teachers make. How much is too much to give the people that shape the future doctors, lawyers, writers, politicians, etc?

I find it comical that people believe public school teachers make so much. On average, in my area, school teachers make 40,000 dollars per year. This does not seem like an exorbitant wage. It seems like a decent wage, far less than people make in many other professions. While there are some teachers making more, a lot of people don't take into account what area of the country they are living in or for how long they have been teaching.

Now, I should address the argument of those that say the teachers of this world are unsuccessful and should not be paid if they are ineffectual. I would have to agree with this. I do agree that teachers should be held accountable because their position is that important. However, lowering the amount of money teachers make, or reducing their pensions and benefits, is only going to encourage people who would make outstanding teachers to seek more lucrative employment elsewhere.

It seems that this country is very short-sighted. To save money in the now, we cut the livelihood of teachers without seeing that this paralyzes the economy of the future. Without quality education our children have no foundation on which to build the success of the United States.