I keep hearing about how we grandmothers were so badly off when we were young. Strict gender roles supposedly crushed our individuality and society squashed us into lives of discontent. But were we really so unhappy ? And are young women today so much better off ?
I've been lurking on Mumsnet lately, and all I seem to see is tales of women trying to be good mothers despite unbearable conditions.
So many women seem to have children with a "partner" who they don't live with . I read one today where they'd never lived together despite two children, but "he comes over and looks after them sometimes" which I thought was really big of him. When I commented that it would be better if they lived together, and shared everything, I was flamed by several posters who told me I was being old-fashioned. Whoops.
Many women live with husbands or partners but there is no real sharing of money - they chip in a certain amount for bills but "he keeps the rest of his as he earns more than I do". What ever happened to sharing everything, no matter how much he earns ?
Girls go home after one or two days of giving birth, and go back to work when the baby is a couple of months old. They have been liberated in order to have a tougher life than we ever had " back in the bad old days".
I think we were much better off when we were young mothers - I feel really sorry for girls today.
