Volume XXV, Issue 24
Educating Women to Excel
April 30,2008
Women’s Roles in Society
ON THE
INSIDE:
How to Be Green
p. 2
How to Be Green
p. 3
How to Be Green
p. 4
How to Be Green
p. 5
Tribute to Family
p. 6
Continuations
p. 7
Process Pieces
p. 8
Process Pieces
p. 9
Continuations
p. 10
CSA Day Awards
p. 11
CSA Day Awards
p. 12
WEATHER
TODAY: Sunny. Low 50,
High 70.
Thursday: Sunny. Low 61,
High 81.
Source: www.weather.com
Information retrieved Tues.
Apr. 29 at 4:00 p.m.
Danielle Beck
Contributing Writer
Hillary Clinton,
Sandra Day O'Connor
and Maria Shriver are all
women who have proved
they have what it takes
to do it all. All three of
these women are moth
ers, career women and
wives. What exactly is a
woman's role in society
today? Everybody in
the world has a different
answer for this question.
Judy Brady, a free-lance
writer, who is known for
her essays on controver
sial issues, answers this
question of a woman's
role in society in her
essay, "I Want a Wife."
Though Brady means to
be satirical, she makes
good points about the
heavy load women carry.
She veers into excessive
stereotypes and pos-
Winn Bolton
Contributing Writer
J«ine Smiley argues
in her essay "The Case
against Chores" that
children should not be
forced to do housework.
She believes that children
should take the initia
tive to clean the bath
room because they think
it needs to be cleaned.
Smiley's views are based
upon her own upbring
ing. She was never forced
to clean up after herself
at home, but she learned
the value of hard work
by caring for her horse.
Parents wiU read all sorts
of books about how to
raise their children, but
when someone comes
sibly could alienate her
readers, both men and
women.
Throughout the essay,
Brady talks from a man's
point of view about all
the things she thinks
a typical man would
want her wife to do. The
amount of stuff she lists
is incredible. She Usts
things like "taking her
kids to the dentist and
keeping track of their
appointments" and pret
ty much just taking care
of the kids. Also she talks
about caring for the hus
band's "physical needs."
These are just a few of
the things Brady men
tions that a man expects
his wife to complete on
a daily basis. Brady is
correct that, in the 'ideal'
family, the wife does
carry a much heavier
load than the man does.
along with a radical idea,
such as Smiley's, they
will take offense because
it does not reassure
their personal parenting
methods. Even though
I am not a parent, I like
to think ahead on how
I might go about such a
task, and I would never
let my future children
lie around waiting for a
cleaning revelation.
My parents never
assigned me weekly
chores; instead, my
father would assign tasks
to be completed each
Saturday. These tasks
ranged from cleaning my
room to picking up sticks
on the lawn. Under my
father's watchful eye, he
would see to it that we
In the ideal, picture-per
fect imaginary family, the
only responsibility the
man has is to earn the
bacon and, once home,
take care of all the manly
chores, like disciplining
the children, mowing the
lawn, and fixing what is
broken, while the wife
is responsible for every
thing else. But I would
have to say that in this
essay Brady really does
go overboard, becoming
almost sarcastic in the
essay about all the tasks
for which women are
responsible. In today's
society some males are
starting to take on the
motherly role, taking on
more of the household
and family responsi
bilities, so the woman
can pursue a career.
However, there are still
families like the Cleavers,
did as he asked. Smiley
believes families cannot
operate the labor system
properly because they do
not work as a team to get
the job done. She argues
that chores are a form
of child labor, in which
parents "plan and plant
the garden [and] the kids
weed it." However, my
father was always out
side with his children,
picking up the larger
branches that had just
fallen in the storm during
the night. He stayed with
us until every twig and
piece of litter was picked
up so our tenant could
mow the lawn.
When a child reaches
a certain age, she should
be expected to help
where the male goes to
work and the woman
stays at home to be the
happy housewife, moth
er and slave, tending to
everybody else's needs
except her own, but such
families are not typical
anymore. The only time
people see a setting like
that of 1950s television is
if the woman chooses to
take that role.
Families come in all
shapes and sizes. Not all
families have a mother,
father and kids. Women
are carrying heavier
loads than they have
ever done before. The old
saying is still somewhat
true: a man works from
Sim up to sun down, but
a woman's work is never
done.
Brady draws out a
Society cont. on pg. 7
out around the house.
Between the ages of six
and sixteen, the child
should feel obliged to
assist her parents in the
daily chores, such as the
laundry and the dishes.
The period of a child's
life when she is forced
to clean will instill in her
a desire to continue her
efforts into adulthood.
If a young person does
whatever she pleases,
how will she leam the
value of hard work?
Smiley was privileged
to own a horse, and it
was in the stable that
she learned the impor
tance of work. She claims
she "saw the purpose
Unlikely cont. on pg. 10
Unlikely Cleaning Revelations