Unhealthy and anti-feminist

Last week was a bad, bad week at work. All the hope of stasis and control that I had felt previously left, and every little thing made me angry. I was so frustrated with the whole thing that I actually thought, "man, I wish I were smoking hot so somebody would just take care of me." Of course, I don't really believe this. The idea of not having my own money and my autonomy scares the bejesus out of me, but I know I am not the first woman who, in a fit of career induced rage, has wished for our simpler and more shackled time, if only for a moment. It is a natural step in the battle we are fighting to occasionally look back and lament the past, even though we know what we are doing is right.

I stumbled upon this article in the New York Times that says that women are getting unhappier while men are getting happier.

They attribute the fact to the idea that women, now faced with a full time job and all of the responsibilities that come with it, now spend more hours doing things they consider unpleasant. Men, on the other hand, are actually working less but don't seem to be sharing in the household work with their SOs. Consequently, they spend less hours doing tasks they consider unpleasant. Even non-labor tasks like spending time with family, show a large gap in the happiness index between the genders because men equate "spending time with family" to watching the game or having a few beers. Women equate that with helping family members with projects, assisting their aging parents, or cooking and cleaning in preparation of these visits.

I have seen this with every man I have encountered, from my father, to the men I babysat for, on down to my roommate. Even when we have parties, the girls always end up cooking and cleaning in the kitchen and the guys all end up out by the grill or on the couch drinking beers, considering the charing of animal flesh to be their only "job."

The article mentions that many women are torn between the wants of the older generation and the wants of the new generation. "Her mother’s goals in life, the student said, were to have a beautiful garden, a well-kept house and well-adjusted children who did well in school. “I sort of want all those things, too,” the student said, as Ms. Stevenson recalled, “but I also want to have a great career and have an impact on the broader world.”

I know this feeling. I enjoying cooking, baking, sewing, entertaining, and decorating, but I also want to feel like my life is interesting, important and not empty and shell-like, like Sandra Lee. It is hard to reconcile all of these conflicting wants and still be good at your job and do well in school. Sometimes, I am not sure what will make me happy. Maybe that is the real problem women face today?