I was recently talking with a young professor. She said that she could not believe the number of female students who don’t wish to have a career. These students instead plan to get married and settle down.
What’s the big deal about a career anyway? In fact, most people don’t have careers; they have jobs. Boring, stupid jobs that involve a great deal of repetitive work. Most of the profits of their labor go to the pockets of their bosses. Why work these dumb jobs and hand over most of the money to a sitter? Why work these jobs and only see your kids on the weekend?
After I graduated from college, I worked in publishing and did quite well. I’m not sure why. I think my boss had a thing for redheads. But anyway, I was sitting in my office over looking Central Park and watching people jog and stroll around on a beautiful fall day. Who were these people who had such leisurely jobs? How can I get one of those? That’s when I applied to graduate school. (Yes, you can mock me now.)
Somewhere along the line, I became very ambitious and, thus, angry when circumstances (children and academia) forced me out of the workforce. But perhaps I am better off. I had a great walk outside today breathing deeply the clean, fall air. I chased a two year old around the backyard. I arranged the day as I saw fit. I was hugged 100 times.
Does our society put too great of emphasis on work? Is it dangerous for young women to prefer home over work? Should they be concerned about divorce? Would you take a demotion and pay cut, if you could spend more time with your family?
