What did your mom do while you grew up?

[MissCatholic]

I watched a program on television the other night that got two families and the moms went into the other persons home.
One was a liberal couple from Texas with two girls and a boy all in their teens who were allowed to express themselves, color their hair, get piecings and could home-school when they wanted and then all cleaned the house. both parents worked.
The other was a baptist family from South Carolina who wouldnt allow their 15 year old daughter to date until she was 18. she had her clothes bought for her by her parents. Their son was spoilt rotten. the only chore that the men in the house had to do was take the trash out. The mom did EVERYTHING but also got her daughter involved. Punishment was writing lines from the bible.

Now when the mothers left and moved, wah t stood out was just how BACKWARD the baptist family was. The husband who did nothing told the liberal mom that she must cook everyday. she must clean the mess that he creates everyday. the men do nothing but take the trash out.
The baptist mother first offended the liberal family by calling them devil worshipers but then she began to understand that the most important thing that the family had was that they wanted to be with each other and have fun. the baptist mother brokedown after a week of her visit as she realized how horrible she was to her daughter.
While all this was going on, the backward father and the liberal mom were now at war. the liberal mom wanted to take the daughter out for the day but the father threatened to phone the cops as she had chores to do. This is the fundamental problem with America and it needs to be highlighted.

Men in this country treat their wifes like sh*t. We are not here to clean for you everyday. We have brains. We have things we want to achieve. Why are so many men particularly in red America so backward?

[J. J.]

Died! 

[John Dibble]

Men in this country treat their wifes like sh*t. We are not here to clean for you everyday. We have brains. We have things we want to achieve. Why are so many men particularly in red America so backward?

Let me get this straight - you take ONE example from a television show that is supposed to be sensationalist and you apply that to every husband in the nation? You aren't proving your point very well by this. The example was an extreme one, and not typical nowadays.


As to answer the poll question, my mom earned her second bachelor's degree and took care of the housework during my first two years of life, and worked after that. I'll say worked since she did that for longer.

[patrick1]

(R) She did both. 

I won't bother to read your long and most likely flawed logic behind this question.

[A18]

Why is cleaning the house not working? Would it not be considered 'work' if someone had hired her to do it?

[Joe Republic]

One was a liberal couple from Texas...

Why are so many men particularly in red America so backward?

Massive generalization alert.

[TeePee4Prez]

D- Both

[Speed of Sound]

half and half, really.

[TeePee4Prez]

MissCatholic, I think relationship abuse is a two way street.  Yes, I think there are a lot of domineering prick men who need to grow up, but there are women who treat their men like sh**t as well.  There are women who sit on their asses and expect men to provide for them and pamper them while they watch soaps all day.  Trust me, I have met a lot of sh**t women in the dating world.  Granted, I find women easier than men when it comes to weight, etc., but horrible on other things such as whether a guy lives with his parents, has a nice car, good job, etc.  

Don't take this as anti-feminist, but realize there are assholes all around.  

[Everett]

WTF, nomo? Are you saying that wives who stay at home don't do anything (don't work) because they must be oppressed by their husbands or something? Don't assume that women who don't work outside the house don't do anything and aren't ever there of their own volition. My mother stayed at home, and I will quite possibly fight to the death if you dare imply that she doesn't have more responsibilities than a working mother would. And don't assume that women who stay at home aren't educated. My mother is much more educated than my (biological) father is, with two Master's Degrees in fact, and she chose to stay home because she cared about the children.

I think it's quite rotten and closed-minded of you to give only two poll options - "Working" and "Cleaning the house" - and therefore I will not vote. Even when she was not working outside the house, she did much more than just "clean the house". I can't possibly list everything that she's done besides "housework". Just because she wasn't getting paid doesn't mean that it wasn't "work".

[riceowl]

(R) Kinda both.  She would straighten up things as she moved around, but never set aside "Cleanup time." She never ironed or stuff like that.

She had a job as a flight attendant from when I was born until December 2001 (retired).

So yeah.

[WI_Dem]

She did volunteer work and raised the kids.

[Bono]

Both

[Sam Spade]

My mother stayed at home and was a housewife while I was growing up.

It wasn't until I left home that she went back to work (part-time), mainly because she wanted to, not because of monetary considerations.

[nclib]

(D) Both. But I voted Option 1 since she worked outside the home.

I agree with other posters who have said that 'cleaning the house' is working and that being a homemaker involves much more than cleaning the house.

[Dave from Michigan]

when I was very young she stayed home and did both ran a day care out of our basement.  she moved to working part time when i was 8,  she went back to work full time when my sister got to high school, now she pays someone to clean our house.

[Alcon]

MissCatholic, if you think that the only things wives who stay at home do is clean, lord.

[riceowl]

Shhhh...

She watches WIFE SWAP. or TRADING SPOUSES. or she's just BULLSHlTTING US AGAIN WITH ANOTHER MADE UP STORY.

Either way, her credibility has never had much stock.

[Platypus]

mainly, she worked, but sometimes, she cleaned the house

[J-Mann]

Why is cleaning the house not working? Would it not be considered 'work' if someone had hired her to do it?

My thoughts exactly.  A family does not raise itself.  There are, believe it or not "MissCatholic," women in the United States who prefer to stay at home. That in and of itself is often a full time job. Your generalizations of men and families in "red states" disgusts me.  Try to develop some perspective.

[Gabu]

I had a very abnormal upbringing, in that my mom worked for a living while my dad stayed home and took care of me and the house.

[Everett]

I had a very abnormal upbringing, in that my mom worked for a living while my dad stayed home and took care of me and the house.

Ah yes, but by MissCatholic's definition, he couldn't have possibly taken care of you, since all he must have done was clean the house.

[Gabu]

I had a very abnormal upbringing, in that my mom worked for a living while my dad stayed home and took care of me and the house.

Ah yes, but by MissCatholic's definition, he couldn't have possibly taken care of you, since all he must have done was clean the house.

No, my dad is a man, so he's capable of multitasking.

[dazzleman]

MissCatholic, I think relationship abuse is a two way street.  Yes, I think there are a lot of domineering prick men who need to grow up, but there are women who treat their men like sh**t as well.  There are women who sit on their asses and expect men to provide for them and pamper them while they watch soaps all day.  Trust me, I have met a lot of sh**t women in the dating world.  Granted, I find women easier than men when it comes to weight, etc., but horrible on other things such as whether a guy lives with his parents, has a nice car, good job, etc.  

Don't take this as anti-feminist, but realize there are assholes all around.  

Flyers, you're completely right.  But somehow, I don't see "Miss"Catholic being swayed by logic.  "She" is just looking to spew out her usual nonsense with her usual 3rd grade reasoning ability.

And why would it be "anti-feminist" to say that not all men are assholes, and all women perfect?  Actually, now that I think of it, that is the feminist philosophy in a nutshell, so I guess to deny it really is anti-feminist.   I guess I can't see why you'd see anything wrong with being anti-feminist when that is how feminism is defined.

[dazzleman]

How would someone whose mother didn't work and had a housekeeper answer?

My mom did not work outside the home, and she did clean the house, though we had a housekeeper once a week for most of the time I was growing up.