Women Remember the Fine Print.
Every time women’s rights come up, somebody starts romanticizing the past.
They want June Cleaver back.
And Donna Reed.
And Harriet Nelson.
And every perfectly dressed television mother who smiled in a spotless kitchen while dinner magically appeared, children behaved, and nobody talked about money, fear, abuse, depression, alcoholism, infidelity, or what happened when the front door closed.
Later came Carol Brady, Marion Cunningham, and a dozen other television versions of the ideal American family.
The message was always the same:
This is what a good woman looks like.
Smile.
Serve.
Sacrifice.
Don’t complain.
Don’t ask for too much.
And whatever you do, don’t make anyone uncomfortable by wanting more.
The problem?
Most of it was fantasy.
Television sold America an image.
Real women lived something very different.
Women couldn’t get a credit card in their own name.
Women couldn’t easily get a mortgage.
Women often couldn’t build independent credit.
Women had fewer career opportunities.
Women frequently stayed in bad marriages because leaving meant financial disaster.
June Cleaver never had to wonder how she would support herself if Ward left.
The script never asked that question.
Real women did.
That’s why I roll my eyes every time someone talks about going back to “traditional values.”
Traditional for whom?
Because what some people call traditional values often looks suspiciously like traditional dependence.
Women have spent generations fighting for rights men never had to fight for.
The right to vote.
The right to own property.
The right to build credit.
The right to have careers.
The right to serve in the military.
The right to control their own financial future.
Not because women wanted special treatment.
Because women wanted access to opportunities that men already had.
And now we’re watching a military ceremony honoring women veterans get canceled.
A ceremony recognizing women who volunteered, served, sacrificed, deployed, led, and defended this country.
Women who earned that recognition.
Women who earned that respect.
Women who shouldn’t have to keep proving their value every single generation.
That’s what bothers me.
Women raise families.
Women build careers.
Women care for aging parents.
Women volunteer.
Women run businesses.
Women serve their communities.
Women serve their country.
Women keep entire households functioning while carrying mental loads that would break most people.
Then society turns around and asks whether women have contributed enough to deserve recognition.
ENOUGH!
Women are not a diversity initiative.
Women are not a special interest group.
Women are half the population.
We’ve spent centuries helping build this country while fighting for rights that many men received simply by being born.
Forgive us if we’re not interested in going backward.
Scarlett says no.