Why Modern Women Are Unhappy

I was going through my library of books (the usual rearranging and dusting) and came across 2 books on Mars and Venus by John Gray. Flipping through the page, I saw this little snippet. Why Modern Women Are Unhappy. He said:

Modern women are overworked, overstressed, and commonly feel unsupported and overwhelmed with good reason: at no other time in history has so much been expected of them. At least five days a week, they put on a uniform and march into an eight-to twelve-hour battle. When they come home, they feel the need to clean house, make dinner, do laundry, love and nurture the kids, and also be pleasing and happy as well as romantically receptive to their mates. it's just too much to ask of themselves, and it's making them feel split inside.

At work, women are required to behave according to the traditional masculine rules of conduct. At home, they have to switch to being warm, giving, and feminine. It's no wonder women complain that they need a wife to greet them with love and tenderness at the end of the day.

Even a contemporary stay-home mother has a more difficult job than her own own did because, with most other mothers at work and her kids' playmate at day care, she lacks the traditional company and support of other women.

In the past, a woman was proud to say that she was a full-time wife and mother. Now she may even feel embarrassed when asked, "What do you do?" Isolated from the support of other women, she must go it alone, as the value of her commitment is largely unacknowledged by the world.

Still, while women now need more support than at any other time in history, men also miss the ego boost they traditionally received from their mates.

So what makes a woman happy? This is what he said:

Years ago, when most women were full-time homemakers, a woman enjoyed the support of other women throughout the day. She could break up her tasks and relax by talking while giving and receiving in the spirit of cooperation, not competition. She had the luxury of unstructured time to create beauty in her home, garden, and community. She cared for others and they cared for her.

This daily routine was conducive to nurturing her feminine spirit and the love in her heart. her caring relationships gave meaning to her existence and supported her through life's inevitable crises.

Women were not expected to shoulder the double burden of nurturing relationships and providing for the family. Men were happy to provide, and able to be sole providers, leaving their partners free to perform their tasks while creating and sustaining loving relationships. In the competitive and hard-driving male-dominated workforce of today, this emphasis on relationships is greatly missing, and for the first time in history women are being forced to do without the support of being in a nurturing and feminine environment.

Maybe I an the exception.
Maybe my last job scared me so badly that I don't mind being the kept woman at home being supported by my hubby.
Maybe the stress of my last job has not wore off.
Maybe I am allergic to work. LOL.

I enjoy staying at home. I still can't believe that I have the privilege to just stay at home and do my favorite thing (playing neopets), read my books, take care of the little one, do my duty as a homemaker - cook, clean. This make me a happy woman.

I don't crave for the power to run an office.
I don't envy women with high paying jobs.
I don't particularly like to be on top all the time.

But this doesn't mean I don't have a mind of my own. Although I don't bring home the bacon, but my hubby respect me to make all decision with me. In fact, 90% of the time, I make all the final decisions.

I do agree "Modern women are overworked, overstressed, and commonly feel unsupported and overwhelmed with good reason: at no other time in history has so much been expected of them". So what does modern woman has to do to be happy? I guess it's up to individual. Once can't have the cake and eat it too. You take some, you give some. So happiness is all up to yourself.

Source: Mars and Venus, Together Forever. John Gray, Ph.D