Last week I went to the Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas Luncheon, featuring speaker Gloria Steinem. I was invited by a very well respected community member and was thrilled the she thought of asking me to attend.
Ms. Steinem
You see my friends, it's time that I come out as a feminist. To make my argument short and sweet, I believe:
- That men and women are entitled to live their lives under their own moral code and in a way which is authentic to them.
- That we have created a false dichotomy where the only options are pro-life or pro-choice. Well, I'm here to say that there is probably a middle ground but I don't believe it has any business being regulated by the government.
- That all young men and women deserve to be taught about sex and sexuality in a way that is biologically accurate and values neutral.
I had these beliefs prior to attending the luncheon, which is probably why I was invited in the first place, but listening to Ms. Steinem speak made me realize something- I need to up my game. It's not enough that I believe in equality for men and women in the workplace, but that we need to expand that definition to the home.
Via Philip N. Cohen, PhD
I've always thought it perfectly acceptable for men to stay at home with their children, so Ms. Steinem didn't have to articulate to me that value of allowing parents to explore all sides of themselves including roles 'traditionally' reserved for the other gender. But what I never even considered, was the financial impact of a parent staying home with children or other dependents.
Ms. Steinem argued in order to move forward as a society, we need to recognize the financial value of a caretaker. She went on to argue that because women are still the primary caretakers in our society, women make up the largest group of unpaid workers possibly in history. THIS was mind-blowing to me. I've been using the verbiage working 'outside' or 'inside' of the home for years, largely to recognize that stay at home parents work just as hard as I do in my office, but I had never considered the fact that this is uncompensated work. In order to make the equation more equal, Ms. Steinem recommends developing some sort of compensation mechanism and specifically suggested a 'caregiver' tax credit.
I'm not saying this is a perfect fix, but it is definitely an idea that is new to me and something I feel deserves the proper amount of consideration. I think that by compensating stay at home caretakers, we would make advances on 2 major issues: 1. strengthening equality in pay for women and 2. ensuring that staying at home is an option for either gender because fair compensation is available.
This post is actively helping me work those considerations out, but it's also written in part to educate my, hubs who, when told the event was great and Ms. Steinem thought provoking, asked 'yeah, but what did ya'll do? Was there a keynote speaker or something?'. Now, considering he went to a school which teaches about the rapture in history class (just let that sink in for a second.... I'm giving the stink eye to you Calvary), I'm not surprised he wasn't familiar with specific theories or faces within the feminist movement. But the 'Gloria who???' comment really rattled me. Here's my effort towards a little re-education :0D
-DBC
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