Well obviously the Statesman is a shitty paper, but my professor knows one of the editors there. So we’ll see where it goes.
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Anonymous asked: The Statesman is not where you want to be published. Send that shit to the Oregonian. |
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Anonymous asked: in that picture with you and several other people in a line, i'm wondering how you open your mouth so damn wide? When I was a kid I thought I was a snake, so I frequently dislocated my jaw in order to swallow rabbits whole. |
This is the essay that my writing professor submitted to the Statesman. I’m still waiting to hear if it’s getting published. *fingers crossed*
When women’s work becomes the only work
Last night I got home after a long day of school and work only to find that my mom hadn’t made dinner because she was tired after the day at work. While this is a common occurrence in our house, she once told me that the only time her mom didn’t cook the family dinner, was after a surgery. Even then, the neighbor ladies brought over casseroles because husbands weren’t expected to cook dinner. Societal attitudes toward women now, in just one generation, have spun almost 180 ̊. However, as a man I have become painfully aware of just how many men haven’t noticed.
The other day I started talking with a man in one of my classes here at Chemeketa Community College. Like a lot of my classmates he’s significantly older than I, the traditional college freshman, am. He explained how after high school, he got a job at a local construction company, and spent the next 25 years working his way up to the top of their pay scale. After the housing market crashed in 2008 the company went bankrupt and he found himself uneducated, unemployed, and only trained in a dying industry. Unfortunately, this particular guy is not alone. In fact, my classes are filled with middle-aged men who’ve come back to school after the economy forced them out of a job. According to Kate Bolick’s popular 2011 article in The Atlantic, this is because nearly three-quarters of the 7.5 million jobs lost in the recent recession, were lost by men. With this setback, women for the first time ever now account for more than 50% of the US labor force.
Seventeen years ago, my best friend’s father was a novelty when he appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show as one of the first “stay-at-home-dads.” Today however, being a stay-at-home-dad is hardly going to get you on TV. From personal experience I’ve noticed that men usually become stay-at-home-dads because the economy has forced them to. For example, my best friend’s father “chose” to be a stay-at-home-dad after months of failing to find work as a contractor. Eventually he stopped looking, and became “Mr. Mom.” His isn’t the only story like this either. My father’s two closest friends are now stay-at-home-dads. One was a highly trained professional who owned his own clinic and the other owned a small shop in town. After the recession hit, their businesses went bankrupt. Instead of trying to open new businesses they took over their wives’ household duties, thus making it easier for their wives to work full-time and make up some of the family’s lost income.
As our economy is still stuck in recession, societal norms of our parents’ days are being thrown out the window. Historically, men dominated the workforce, while women ran the household. Today, women are replacing men in the job market at unprecedented rates. If we men are to make it in today’s society, we must renounce our social prejudices. The harsh reality of today is that there really isn’t “men’s work” and “women’s work” anymore. There’s just work, and if you spend your time deciding if it’s right for you, then you’re likely to find yourself unemployed.
Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Speciale LeMans 1938
Red pig.
Mercedes Benz SEL 6.8 AMG of Hans Heyer, 24h of Spa 1971
