If the average American were asked what they imagine the priorities of the feminist movement are these days, most people would likely cite concerns like “fighting abortion bans” or “getting justice for sexual violence victims” or boring mainstays like “equal pay for equal work.” But if you listen in to the world of right-wing social media influencers, they have a different answer. To them, feminists are single-mindedly obsessed with destroying women who identify as “tradwives.”
Are they also selling the fantasy you can make ends meet on a single person’s income?
Right, that’s the most idiotic part. My wife has a career that I also make sacrifices for and vice versa. Even with modest career growth, she will contribute about $4M in earnings over 30 years.
Setting earnings aside, we have a child, and she is an equal partner. It would be insulting and foolish to ask her to stop working. We want our son to grow up knowing that women are just as capable as men.
It’s the same fantasy. You work on seven years I’ll work on odd ones
They’re selling the fantasy to people still living with their parents.
In the UK childcare is so expensive that it has started to make sense for someone to take a career break while they are young. Unfortunately women appear to be most affected by this.
This is probably a luxury thought but I wonder if the opportunity cost of the career break not leading to promotions ends up costing a lot more than the childcare in the long run.
Child care is not expensive here, but women tend to “sacrifice” their economic future to spend more time with the kids. This means they work less than men, and they will suffer quite a lot when it comes to pensions when they get older.