I love the picture posted by MeiQi Chen, it does a great job of depicting just how much women are ‘supposed’ to do in their life. According to society, women are supposed to not only cook but also serve others, clean up the home and raise the children. It seems like women also carried a vice like drinking, smoking, or even shopping to somehow self-soothe from their hectic life. Even now after so many years while things are slowly changing it isn’t by much. Women still take the bulk of the responsibilities spending twice as much time in the domestic work in the home than men even though nowadays women are working 1 to 2 jobs just like men are in our ever-growing economy.

In The Myth Of The Vaginal Orgasm by Anne Koedt “Foreplay is a concept created for male purposes, but works to the disadvantage of many women, since as soon as the
woman is aroused the man changes to vaginal stimulation, leaving her both
aroused and unsatisfied.” It shows just how much women were somehow supposed to cater to men and their needs.

In The Politics of Housework, Pat Mainardi wrote “I know that men have caused
that sore-if anyone visits and the place is a sty–they’re not going to leave and say,
“He sure is a lousy housekeeper.” You’ll take the rap in any case.” She talks about how women are guilted into doing the housework and how women have something called “Guilt over a messy house”. We sometimes forget that people have different personalities, society push women to clean up the home while the men go out and work. But we as a society forget that some men genuinely like a cleaner home to they clean it themselves or they don’t mind cleaning so they do it themselves. Yet we push it on women when some women are workaholics and love what they do so they put it ahead of ‘keeping the house’. Something that simple shouldn’t be pushed on either gender when it has nothing to do with it.

I would have to disagree with Betty Friedman when she says “The mistake, says the mystique, the root of women’s troubles in the past is that women envied men, women tried to be like men, instead of accepting their own nature, which can find fulfillment only in sexual passivity,  male domination, and nurturing maternal love.” Unless I am understanding wrong I don’t believe the root of women’s trouble was the envied men or women who tried to be like men. All women want is to be equal to men, seen as equal. We want to be valued in the workplace, in the government, and even in our own homes as equals and not have to fight and defend our positions.