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