- Feb 11, 2004
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Well, let's see.The idea that this is a low position in life is nonsensical.
If you are told that you mustn't receive any higher education (because girls are supposed to be mothers, not [insert any profession here], and it would be a waste of time and resources);
if you are told that your husband gets to decide if you may work at a job you hold, and any money you earn is automatically his (because marriage means that you cease being a legal person in your own right);
if you are not allowed to vote (because women are too uneducated, innocent and pure to know what's good for them and the country);
or if you cannot sue a husband for raping you, because rape is legally defined as extra-marital
then yes, you ARE a second-class citizen.
And let's not make the mistake of pretending that this kind of thing has been history for ages.
In Germany, it took until the early 1970s before women were legally granted the right to keep control of their own wages, and until the late 1990s (!!!) before rape in marriage became a crime.
There was a time when some feminists (particularly of the second wave) treated every self-determined housewife and mother like a traitor to the cause. Which, frankly, is just as nonsensical as declaring every woman in pursuit of a career a traitor to motherhood.
The point of all this campaigning is to give women the CHOICE. And it tells you a lot about the resilient sexism underlying our society that most predominantly female professions (nurse, child care worker, primary school teacher, cleaner, etc.) are woefully underpaid, while housework and raising your kids remains a completely unrewarded job in a society where wages not only determine your ability to survive, but also your social status.
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