Another Inconvenient Truth

our civilization and society revolves around the idea of all for one and one for all. this idea takes many forms in our culture from the economy, to work, to the household, along with our perceptions of ourselves versus our neighbors. we constantly pair ourselves against others in order to feel as though we have power and are more individualistic to prove we are able to function in society. the reason we do this is to conform to the characteristics of strength and lack of dependence on others. as it is considered weak to have to rely on others in order to survive and also it is frowned upon, if you are a housewife, to not produce "a full-time career, thriving children, a contented spouse, and a well-managed home" (Introduction). this idea goes back in time to the 1950s when women were supposed to be pious, pure, and submissive housewives, taking care of their domain: the household. the problem now is that women these days cannot possibly take care of all of these things, along with being productive at their jobs, since women are also supposed to hold jobs to be socially acceptable. this is exactly the problem: the image that women are supposed to achieve is constantly being changed by men, this therefore, is where third world country women are involved. these women "achieve their success only by assuming the cast off domestic roles of middle and high income women in the first world---roles that have been previously rejected, of course, by men" (Introduction). as first world women are expected to succeed in the workplace more than in the household, there is still pressure for them to take care of their family, just not as strong. because of this new expectation, women's previous jobs in the household are now looked down upon as unfit for "even women", as though these jobs didn't merit respect before, so now those who do them recieve even less. these jobs are another form of placing women, regardless of race, in subservient positions that place them on a lower social level than men, because of their work. although they are known as women, these third world workers would "make the house-hotel room perfect, feed and bathe the children, cook and clean up---and then magically fade from sight" (Introduction). They are in fact considered less than woman, since they are not presentable in the public forum although the work they do is necessary for our lives. this goes back to my previous point of us not relying on others to help us with our work, due to pride or whatever it may be.