Woman in the 21st Century

Margaret Fuller wrote that "If men look straitly to it, they will find that, unless their lives are domestic, those of the women will not be." (Woman in the Nineteenth Century, 1845) In pre-Civil War America, women were thought to possess no traits useful to society outside those of the domestic nature. In 2008, prevailing thought does not follow these stringent lines, however, there have been times when I have felt that I wasn't living up to my duty as a wife or a mother, that I was somehow inferior to women who choose to stay at home with their children. I certainly don't want to criticize that decision, it is a hard job, staying at home. On a good day, I feel much better equipped to defuse teenage angst and obligitorily read horrible (horrible!) poems and short stories that students hand me.

Finding a balance is the challenge--don't be a workaholic, make dinner for your family (at least a couple times a week), drive race cars around the house with your son, grade (horrible!) essays on Macbeth, read something intelligent, watch TV with your hubbie--but the challenge is what makes it interesting, I suppose.

This summer, my plan is to work through a list of novels that I have long claimed to have read. No kidding. I have had actual conversations with professional people in which I have pretended to have read Crime and Punishment. I'm pretty good at pretending, but I'm not sure I have fooled anyone there. First up: Catcher in the Rye. Start with the short ones, that's my plan. So if you want, read along. Make comments on the books, challenge my thinking. But if you don't want to read, be prepared to have the endings spoiled--hey maybe then you can pretend to have read them! It may work out for everyone involved.

"A house is no home unless it contain food and fire for the mind as well as for the body."
Margaret Fuller, 1845

I love TV and reading

I wouldn't say that I'm addicted to TV, there is definitely some grade-A crap that makes it into prime-time, but in an effort to paint a realistic portrait of myself, I have to admit that I do love it. This, of course, is being written on the cusp of the season finale of one of Hollywood's most ingenious creations--all that is Lost (they moved the island! Locke is dead in the future! they have to go back!). I am less in love with TV during the summer and writer's strikes. Plus we recently down-graded our TV package to basic cable. No more TLC or TBS, so I won't be spending entire afternoons watching What Not to Wear and Sex in the City reruns.

This first confession is imperative because the purpose of this blog is to explore works of "literature" and to uncover little nuggets of wisdom that inspire my 21st Century-working mother-I live on an island but don't like the word "rural" existence. I read a lot. People are always asking me how I have time to read. Are you ready? I am about to unveil the true answer to that question, and it is a doozy. Ok, here you go: My life is really quite boring. No, that sounds bad--like I resent my boring life. I don't--I love it. It gives me time to read.