"We don 't believe in that [WOHM]"

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-11-2005
"We don 't believe in that [WOHM]"
2078
Mon, 01-09-2006 - 11:31am

On Friday, as I was driving hom from work, I stumbled across an interview with the wife of the one surviving miner from the collapse in WVa. In the course of the interview, someone asked her if she worked.

Her response was that they don't believe in that. She explained that her husband was very proud of the fact that he was the sole supporter of the family, and that he didn't need her help in supporting them. She explained that they just don't believe in women working after they have kids and husbands, and that they believe her place is at home with the kids.

My heart really goes out to her, and this post isn't about her, but about the sentiment that women shouldn't work because their place is at home. And being a real man, even if it means working in dangerous conditions, long hours, holding two jobs and being a step away from poverty at every turn, means that your wife doesn't work.

I suppose this is the first time that I've heard someone, not a movie character or a character in a book, express this sentiment. I don't understand why anyone would be proud to limit their spouse's potential. Or why be proud that you live right on the poverty line?

If they didn't see the dangers of their POV before, surely that entire community, and even the whole country, has now seen the risk that we talk about on here all the time, the risk that suddenly the SAHM will need to find a way to financially support the family. I wonder if anyone will re-think what they believe in.

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Avatar for ahlmommy
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
I am not diverting anything. I just chose not to play all or nothing with you...and cat and mouse. I am gonna go now...I have to get back to my work.
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-13-2006
lots of overtime and rotating shifts are difficult to deal with im glad for your sake he is working his way up the food change to more normal hours.
Jennie
iVillage Member
Registered: 06-27-1998

I disagreed with you, notice the thumbs down icon.

PumpkinAngel

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-27-1998

That would be him.


PumpkinAngel

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-27-1998

She asked why the comparison.

PumpkinAngel

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-27-1998

Ah huh.

PumpkinAngel

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-03-2005
I don't find my kids physically stressful ... (although I can't keep up with them). They're mentally stressful; ds is such an odd duck that he keeps me puzzled. Such a smart thing, but so damn stubborn. Dd is, well, almost a teenager. Both of them are very well-behaved yet stressful. It's hard to reconcile, isn't it? It's not nearly as stressful to me as it used to be because I *understand* them more now. I've learned ways to deal with them that aren't stressful. But a stranger coming into their lives (such as Cal's KG teacher) could easily find them very stressful.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
It just goes to show you're not that familiar with nannies.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
She had an angry absentee father.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 11-18-2005

I wonder if it has something to so with the youngest...My youngest is so so so insistent about everything. My oldest tends to want to please me and others. The youngest gets a gleam in her eye and watch out..

We don't call her Stitch for nothing..lol!

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