"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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iVillage Member
Registered: 05-01-2003
Yes, I agree. I just posted something to that effect but you said it better. I don't think the SAH's are trying to insult the WOH's at all, especially in this day and age.
Maybe 30 years ago you would see that, but the world is a much more tolerant place these days. All lifestyles are acceptable, as it should be. (Maybe in some remote areas of the country, like the OP was talking about the old ways exist, but to me, that is the dark ages.)
Avatar for ahlmommy
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Yes you are...THat isn't a business. So if you work at WalMart and get paid...You have a business? Good grief...REACHING here arent ya?
Avatar for ahlmommy
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
I don't treat a 1 yr old as a business. I do report the income...It isn't a business...You would report it as a tax credit. It is like you having an employee...not a business.
Avatar for ahlmommy
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
No you didn't hit a hot button with me. I am laughing at you now because you Asked me how my business was. Again..I don't have a business. I am getting dizzy from all this spin. Did you think I didn't know what you were doing? I don't play childish games..I do that all day long...it is late I am off for the evening.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
I scheduled my kids according to their needs.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 05-01-2003
I would say there are some internal issues that cause you to feel that way.
Avatar for laurenmom2boys
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003

I didn't say you had a BUSINESS. I said you WAH. You're the one that's reaching. You care for a child not your own. You get paid. You pay taxes. You WAH.

No need to get hostile.

Avatar for laurenmom2boys
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Was I talking about *you?*
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
take care of my children in lieu of paid employment.

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Avatar for laurenmom2boys
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003

Where exactly did I use the word "business?"

Edited to add: Yup, I used the word "business." My bad. I admit I was wrong. However, when I said it, I didn't mean it in the sense of owning a "business," but in the sense that it's a job. Just like people ask me how the "Telecommunications business" is going. I don't own the telecommunications business but I do work in telecommunications.




Edited 1/10/2006 10:06 pm ET by laurenmom2boys

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