By Theresa
I recently took a two week vacation with Charlie who was one month at the time, and Ayla at the very trying age of 19 months. Along for the ride was my husband, and my two parents who fulfilled their roles as doting grandparents. Our destination? Hawaii. Namely the Big Island and Maui. Although the mere mention of Hawaii conjures up images of a tropical paradise, our vacation was anything but.
Was our vacation horrible? No, but it definitely was not paradise. Let’s just say that on the long flight from our wintry home in Canada, a very kind stewardess slipped my husband a complimentary bottle of vodka to go with his orange juice. She said, “Here, I think you’ll need this.” Boy, did he ever.
By Theresa
I often feel like I’m drowning in a sea of pink as I sort through my baby daughter’s closet. When we go shopping, I see pink, pink, and more pink. I was hoping that in the twenty-first century, girls would have more options to choose from other than blush.
Have you ever wondered if we are
Continue reading Gender Stereotypes: Are We Still Defined by Blue and Pink?
By Theresa
As a twentysomething woman, girls in my generation were raised with high expectations: you can work and have a family—you can have it all! Before I had a child, I really, truly believed this. However, having a baby has changed my perspective and priorities. Call me what you want, but the reality is that I have a hard time seeing how I can work full-time and be able to spend enough quality time with my husband and daughter once all the daily chores are done.
By Theresa
The modern woman in many developed nations can have a fulfilling career, raise a family, and enjoy a fun social life. We are having our “cake” and feasting on it. So why are women less happy than men?
A study (2009) conducted by economists Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers called “The Paradox of Declining Female Happiness”, describes this phenomenon:
“By many objective measures the lives of women in the United States have improved over the past 35 years, yet we show that measures of subjective well-being indicate that women’s happiness has declined both absolutely and relative to men. The paradox of women’s declining relative well-being is found across various datasets, measures of subjective well-being, and is pervasive across demographic groups and industrialized countries. Relative declines in female happiness have eroded a gender gap in happiness in which women in the 1970s typically reported higher subjective well-being than did men. These declines have continued and a new gender gap is emerging—one with higher subjective well-being for men.”
The study brings up a good point about who carries the “emotional burden” of running a household. While men tend to help out more nowadays compared to a generation ago, women still carry the emotional burden of keeping an orderly home and raising the kids, on top of managing their career. (The average man I know doesn’t feel too guilty about going to work and leaving their kids behind or having a messy house.)
