Nearly 10 years ago

Nothing is new. I have been surfing the net looking to find other opinions and insight into my personal struggle with the nature of being a man, and came across a series of articles written for the Washington Post. Details after the jump. You can read the articles here . Here is the line that caught my attention "Surprisingly, although men and women agreed they should have equal work opportunities, and men said they approved of women working outside the home, large majorities of both said it would be better if women could instead stay home and just take care of the house and children." This was written in March of 1998.

Nice to know that people have been struggling with this for at least a decade. I think what it really comes down to is that many woman would like to stay home and raise the kids. So why aren't they? A couple of reasons jump out at me. First, society has placed such an emphasis on material success that two incomes have become the norm. You need both parents to be working so you can afford a nice car, and a nice house, and shiny new toys. Second, I know that if I had specnt a huge amount of time and money becoming successful in this world, it would be damn difficult to get me to give it up. Finally, I think many women feel pressure from other woman not to be "just" a mom. As if somehow they are betraying womankind by being a mom.

I am certain that there are hundreds of reasons that woman continue to work as opposed to staying home (certainly, simply having the option to work in their chosen career is a good one). However, I think society as a whole suffers for it.

I will have more on this series of articles in the next few days.

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The Quest Begins

I have been struggling, for what seems like my entire life, to find answers to what seem like simple questions on some level: What does it mean to be a man?
What am I supposed to do now?
What does it mean to be happy?
Is America better off now than it was in the past?
What can I learn from what has come before?
Why can't I ask for, and enjoy, what I truly want sexually?
Is it wrong to want a wife (meaning a stay at home mom who has dinner on the table)?

Just to give you a sense of my own cowardice, I haven't told anyone I know that I am writing this. I want a place where I can muse and ponder and posit without concern for judgment in the real world. This is my place to struggle for meaning.

If anyone ever reads this (which I doubt), and wants to comment, feel free. Here are the ground rules:

1) Say what you feel, try not to censure yourself. Are you racist? Antisemitic? Misogynistic? Let that viewpoint color your comments. Pretending that people don't think or feel things that others find distasteful is ludicrous and counter-productive. However, that leads us to:

2) Your comment must advance the conversation. Just posting to say that I am an idiot or that a commenter is a jackass, or that Jews are the devil, will get your comment deleted.

My next post will start the conversation.

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