You've probably heard about the "success sequence," the idea that if young people do the right stuff in the right order-- finish school, get a job, get married, have a kid-- they are less likely to end up poor.
If we listen, women are telling us directly and clearly that step 3 - marriage - is the off ramp in the success sequence. The added workload for a woman to “take care” of a man in exchange for “support” is often less than what she could make working for herself even assuming she’s not expected to have a job on top of that. Additionally, when she leaves the workforce, she’ll likely lose much of her earning potential for the rest of her life while the man can easily walk away from her with little consequence.
Right now, the burden of proof lies with the men and they aren’t making a good case.
That's why they're trying very hard to make it mandatory, though. Anti-abortion laws, making education more difficult to achieve, making divorce harder, questioning our right to vote: these are all pushes to reduce women's options so we HAVE to accept the first man that offers for us or face severe consequences.
This stuff is chilling to me since as a millennial I've always lived in a society where my rights were guaranteed and I was always seen as a full person in the eyes of the law. Overturning Roe made it clear that I'm not, and I am extremely, extremely concerned about where we go from here and what it all means for my daughter (and, heck, for my son, because this is all coming with a nasty nasty side of toxic masculinity that is very bad for boys).
As a boomer, coming of age in the late 60’s - early 70’s, this is an even bigger disconnect for me. I’m also worrying about my grandchildren along with my children.
I think the most likely response to these issues is women taking full control of their lives and interacting with men only on their own terms and I’m fully on board with that. If abortion & contraception are restricted then women will be extremely selective about with whom and how they have sex. If divorce is harder, then marriages go away and get replaced with relationship contracts. Korean women are already doing this.
Women will tend to turn away from religions that treat them as inferior beings.
I don’t really see womens’ voting rights being seriously challenged, but I’d make darned sure to keep my registration absolutely correct and up to date. I’d also give serious consideration as to whether to keep my entire identity (voter, DMV, banking, etc.) under my own rather than married name.
I also don’t see difficulties in obtaining a good education as being gendered nearly as much as income related. With public schools dying, those with means will still get an education. The privatized schools and colleges need to stay full to make $. Employers still need an educated workforce. The scariest thing is what sort of “training” the poor underclass will get. Not hard to take a very dystopian view of that element.
Brilliantly argued!
If we listen, women are telling us directly and clearly that step 3 - marriage - is the off ramp in the success sequence. The added workload for a woman to “take care” of a man in exchange for “support” is often less than what she could make working for herself even assuming she’s not expected to have a job on top of that. Additionally, when she leaves the workforce, she’ll likely lose much of her earning potential for the rest of her life while the man can easily walk away from her with little consequence.
Right now, the burden of proof lies with the men and they aren’t making a good case.
That's why they're trying very hard to make it mandatory, though. Anti-abortion laws, making education more difficult to achieve, making divorce harder, questioning our right to vote: these are all pushes to reduce women's options so we HAVE to accept the first man that offers for us or face severe consequences.
This stuff is chilling to me since as a millennial I've always lived in a society where my rights were guaranteed and I was always seen as a full person in the eyes of the law. Overturning Roe made it clear that I'm not, and I am extremely, extremely concerned about where we go from here and what it all means for my daughter (and, heck, for my son, because this is all coming with a nasty nasty side of toxic masculinity that is very bad for boys).
As a boomer, coming of age in the late 60’s - early 70’s, this is an even bigger disconnect for me. I’m also worrying about my grandchildren along with my children.
I think the most likely response to these issues is women taking full control of their lives and interacting with men only on their own terms and I’m fully on board with that. If abortion & contraception are restricted then women will be extremely selective about with whom and how they have sex. If divorce is harder, then marriages go away and get replaced with relationship contracts. Korean women are already doing this.
Women will tend to turn away from religions that treat them as inferior beings.
I don’t really see womens’ voting rights being seriously challenged, but I’d make darned sure to keep my registration absolutely correct and up to date. I’d also give serious consideration as to whether to keep my entire identity (voter, DMV, banking, etc.) under my own rather than married name.
I also don’t see difficulties in obtaining a good education as being gendered nearly as much as income related. With public schools dying, those with means will still get an education. The privatized schools and colleges need to stay full to make $. Employers still need an educated workforce. The scariest thing is what sort of “training” the poor underclass will get. Not hard to take a very dystopian view of that element.
You can only maintain 13th century hierarchies with a 13th century understanding of the world.