"Women can't have it all as long as they are doing it all." Gloria Steinem
The above quote is Gloria Steinem's response to a reporter who is asking, rather incredulously, if Gloria really thinks women can have it all. And, isn't it the truth, women, or men for that matter, cannot have it all if they are doing it all -- if they are doing the work outside the home as well as the work inside the home. The Women's Movement shaped me, as it affected every other person on the planet. While I was not out demonstrating, I was taking note of what was being said, and of the backlash from others with more conservative views. In watching the PBS program, "Makers: Women Who Make America", it was interesting to remember what Shirley Chisholm said, that she suffered more discrimination from being a woman than she had ever suffered from being black.
And, what does this have to do with caregiving? We who are caregivers cannot have it all, either, as long as we are doing it all. We cannot possibly have our lives and live them fully -- if our whole life and time and energy are given over to caregiving. Caregiving is more than two jobs; it is three shifts around the clock. It is humanly impossible to provide caregiving as the sole provider AND have a life. So, let us take to heart Gloria Steinem's quote from above. What kind of life do we want and how does caregiving fit into that life?
No comments:
Post a Comment