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Read other letters about this article
I really wish writers like Caitlin Flanagan would stop acting like this whole, "women working" thing is something new and was brought on by feminism. For most of human history, women have used their physical or mental abilities to bring income into the family house. Whether it was gathering, while their husbands hunted, working on the farm, or tending the family store or restaurant, women worked and they worked hard.
The only women who stayed home and didn't work at all were members of the aristocracy or the upper classes. And even they, like Ms. Flanagan, depended on hired help to take care of the house and children, etc. It wasn't expected of them to spend every minute of the day bathing their children in "mother-love." (BTW, I don't begrudge Ms. Flanagan her hired help. I don't think women should ever feel guilty for hiring a nanny or housekeeper. That said, I agree with Ms. Flanagan that you should at least pay their social security taxes and their health insurance.) True, the nature of the kind of work women do has changed dramatically over the centuries (we're writers, lawyers, executives and so on), but women are a permanent part of the office.
We may scale back hours or stay home for few years when the youngins come, but most of us will go back to work. It's time that people like Ms. Flanagan got used to it.
