Tell me I have imagined this:
House Democrats are introducing legislation that would give all mothers, regardless of income, the option to stay at home to raise their children. It’s called the Woman’s Option to Raise Kids (WORK) Act.
The WOMAN’s option? How about the man’s option to raise kids? Child-rearing is now officially to become a woman’s “job”? And that’s being proposed by the Democrats?It is now considered progressive to sponsor the idea of women dedicating themselves exclusively to raising children? And paying for this “choice” with taxpayers’ money?
This is a typo, right? The Democrats cannot be introducing this barbaric bill.
The War on Women is being waged by the Democrats and the Republicans simultaneously, it seems.
“We will remove abortion and birth control so that all you do is procreate,” one party says.
“Because that’s all you good for anyways,” chimes in the other party.
Clarissa's Blog 
I think at this point, they’re (Democrats and Republicans) playing a game of “chicken”, racing off to see who “respects” housewives more.
I don’t know who will win, but I do know who will lose: Parents who want bona fide solutions, like nationalized, accessible childcare, to be part of the discussion of parenting and politics. 😦
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I know! The daycare keeps being demonized at a huge cost to everybody except the fundamentalists and the patriarchally minded among us. 😦
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All true re nationalized, accessible childcare. But I think what this is trying to do is solve the problems that came in with «workfare». Reactive and short sighted, I know, but I am pretty sure that is where this is coming from.
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Um, they already have the option of staying at home and raising their kids. Women do it all the time. What’s next, the Democrats propose a new bill to help people cross the street all by themselves?
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“What’s next, the Democrats propose a new bill to help people cross the street all by themselves?”
– Great point. 🙂 🙂 They do love to infantilize.
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I realize, of course, that this is some sort of “give them money” scheme, but is it wrong of me that I immediately thought of the “Kinder, Kuche, Kirchen” campaign the Nazis had to keep their blond Aryan women at home so they could make more blond Aryan babies? Yes of course it was wrong of me, so wrong. And yet, that’s what I immediately think of whenever I see any branch of government proposing to “help mothers stay home and raise their kids.”
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” but is it wrong of me that I immediately thought of the “Kinder, Kuche, Kirchen” campaign the Nazis had to keep their blond Aryan women at home so they could make more blond Aryan babies? Yes of course it was wrong of me, so wrong.”
– That’s exactly what comes to my mind, too, when I see this kind of thing! Great minds, eh? 🙂
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I do think this is a put-on. Giving mothers a break? That is not the American way!
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Actually, the patriarchy gives women a break from everything other than childbirth and childcare.
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It doesn´t support those, either; if it did there would be nationalized, accessible, high quality day care.
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Why would there be a need for day care if all the housewives were at home looking after their kids?
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That’s exactly what the favorite scenario of both party is, it seems. Accessible day care would let women work and be independent which will make it a lot harder for men to purchase women. A woman who has an income of her own is not likely to sell herself to a guy just to get food and shelter, like the housewives do.
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The text of the bill is actually gender neutral, even though it’s being marketed as a law to help women.
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Oh, someone who has seen the bill! I can’t seem to find it, but…. what does it actually *do*? Is it going to give mothers (or parents I guess, since apparently it’s gender neutral) some sort of tax funded salary?
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Election year Kabuki theater. The Dems are not serious about this. The Republicans know that the Dems are not serious. The chattering class will forget about the whole Ann-gate nonsense in about a week, and the bill will then evaporate – inconvenient for both parties.
If the Dems were serious, they would propose mandated perinatal paid leave, so that women could bear children and have a few weeks to recover, without worrying about losing the job. As has been noted before, all other first world countries have a paid leave policy of some sort, even if not enforced. Very small businesses could have some sort of tax offset for the cost of employee absence.
Simple, modest, reasonable changes are better, because more achievable. If the Republicans oppose extending a small-sized benefit to low-level workers, the Dems are perfectly set to state that the days of squatting in the field to deliver a baby in the morning and then bringing in the harvest in the afternoon should be over.
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“If the Dems were serious, they would propose mandated perinatal paid leave, so that women could bear children and have a few weeks to recover, without worrying about losing the job. As has been noted before, all other first world countries have a paid leave policy of some sort, even if not enforced. Very small businesses could have some sort of tax offset for the cost of employee absence.”
– Exactly. But that would involve accepting that many women do return to work and we have all accepted that as a society. No, a bill glorifying housewifery is so much more useful!
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