I recently came across a clip of American comedian Ali Wong doing a stand up skit criticizing feminism and how all women are now expected to work. At one point she said, “I think feminism is the worst thing that ever happened to women!” While she was obviously joking about this statement to a certain degree, it was refreshing to see criticism of feminism for once.
3:00-4:43 – Ali Wong discusses women being in the workforce.
In the skit, which was a part of a featured a comedy special for Netflix in 2016, Wong noted that before women were expected to work, they had a more open schedule. She said, “When I hear the phrase ‘double income household,’ I want to throw up.” She noted women will challenge her and say, “But Ali, we have so many more options now,” and she would respond, “Oh, you don’t think we had options when our day was free?”
I agree with many of her points. A trend among women during the last decade or so has been to be the “Super Mom,” the mom with the career and kids. I have personally wondered how “Super Mom” ever came to be such a fad, considering it is embracing double the work. Who in their right mind wants to double their workload? What exactly are they trying to prove?
Through it all, I think women have been burdened with much more than what they bargained for by pushing feminism for decades, such as expensive childcare, lack of quality time with their children, a more stressful life and poor diet. As Wong pointed out, because of feminism, now all women are expected to work. In fact, women are not simply expected to work, they are expected to “rise to the top,” as Wong noted when explaining a book titled “Lean In”, written by Facebook’s COO Sheryl Sandberg, that encourages women to take on leadership roles.
I personally recall while attending public school in Southern California that the message “be a woman leader,” “be a woman scientist,” was drilled into my head. “We need more female leaders!” “We need more women in science!” It took me years to get over the fact that I didn’t land an eye-catching career after I decided to leave college after being faced with deciding to take out student loans. In high school I was a 4.0 GPA student, so I was the perfect candidate for gender brainwashing.
The odd thing about “feminism” is that it has raised the “Super Mom” up while demonizing the housewife. I recall after graduating high school a few of my female classmates had children within a couple years, and my internal thoughts were, “Wow, losers… How are they ever going to get anywhere in life?” I had no understanding of the value of family. Now that I am older, I realize that it is actually possible to have kids at a young age and to eventually pursue a career later in life. When I graduated high school the only route I knew was to go straight to university, and anyone who strayed from that path had less of my respect.
One thing I think Wong got wrong, though, was saying that “our job used to be no job,” and that the pre-working woman just laid around at home all day eating snacks while watching Ellen. The pre-working woman did have “a job.” Women were more likely to have four to five kids compared to today’s mothers who are likely to have only one to two kids. Caring for children was a big job. I am not a mother, but I do work with young children at a school, and I will tell you that working with kids is not easy. There have been a number of times where I’ve thought in my head, “I’m glad I’m not your mother.”
Additionally women kept the house more organized and took more time preparing meals for the family, which is different compared to today’s households where fast food and pre-packaged meals are more common. Gardening was also common, and families were more likely to grow their own food and manage livestock. Interestingly enough, I keep noticing more people are trying to go back to this “simple lifestyle,” and are taking more interest in off-grid endeavors. A large number of off-grid Youtube channels have propped up on Youtube made by people who left the city.
Ultimately, it’s great Ali Wong brought some negatives of feminism to light. It should be discussed more often. When really digging into analyzing the negative impact of feminism, much more can be said. I have reported further insight in my other blog titled “Issues that need to be addressed as a result of women being in the workforce.”
Lauren Ell is an American blogger born and raised in Southern California and is currently based in Sweden. She discusses Epilepsy, Politics and Fun. Professionally Ell is an Online Marketing Consultant and Virtual Assistant. She is also founder and president of Republican Atheists. Connect with Lauren on Facebook and Twitter.