Stand by me

I was watching the morning show today while having breakfast and there was a mention of what I think is a book. It was about how women should give up their careers and instead spend their lives supporting their husbands.

I'm not sure how I feel about this. I'm a huge advocate of how partners should be each other's support, but giving up your own individual career aspirations? Perhaps back in the day where it was uncommon for women to have careers and where the accepted role of women was in the home, it might have been okay. But we live in a different world today and we just can't do that anymore.

I believe at one point, it was about choice. Women had the opportunity to pursue careers and individual financial stability and success. I believe that now, expectation has overtaken choice. I don't think that loyalty is valued as much today as it was in the past. Society today has become so indivdualistic that it's all about self-gratification and fulfilling one's individual needs. I dislike the individualistic nature of some societies and really prefer the collectivist mentality at times. Everything today is about getting something better, faster and at an instant. Our patience and tolerance levels have dropped and this has spilled over into our expectations of partners.

I would love to one day marry, have a family, live a happy life. If I would be so fortunate to one day have a husband, then my biggest fear would be if one day, I didn't have a husband anymore. Whether the loss would be attributed to divorce or death, this would be a situation I would call "When The Shit Hits The Fan."

If I'd given up my career to support a man and one day The Shit Hits The Fan, what would happen to me then? The financial implications of having The Shit Hit The Fan is a nightmare to me. If I got divorced, will I get anything out of the relationship? People spend years in relationships and get nothing when it all ends. How horrible! If I became a widow and I wasn't working because I was supporting my husbang, who would take care of the bills? Who will keep the children clothed and fed and kept in school? How will I pay for all of that if I wasn't working? I cannot assume that my dear husband would have prepared for the worst...

I work so that I will have money to live a comfortable life. So that I may support myself and one day be able to support my family if I were to have one and if I needed to. I also work because I would probably get very bored spending my days watching tv endlessly. I also work so that if The Shit ever Hits The Fan, it wouldn't be such an unmanageable mess. Of course, I would support my husband and love him dearly, but I would never be so foolish as to put myself in a position where if The Shit Hits The Fan, I would struggle to pick up the pieces. Stuff that.