Quimi

Well, since I started this self-declared writing challenge, I've gotten just over 8000 words, and am halfway (?) through chapter 5. Feels like I may be falling behind, but it's hard to say when my goal is just "finish". Either way, I'm not giving up.

I am, however, temporarily reprioritizing some things. Family's church is taking eyeglasses to Colombia this weekend (or at least the kits to make them), and I'm trying to sew as many cases for them as I can before they go. So far I've sewn about 60, and we've cut the fabric for about a bajillion more. Between that, and today being Memorial Day, I've spent the day cleaning, cooking, sewing, and being with my family. Which got me thinking about how those tend to be the "housewifely/womanly" skills that get looked down upon and disparaged as not being "real work". Even though no one who ever has to do any of those would deny that they took a lot of work to do (even just being with the family, sometimes). Or skill and talent to do well. Even so, they're very rarely considered a "valid" use of one's time and energy, and those who focus on it are "wasting" themselves.

It's as if, back when the feminist movement started, they took the argument that "a woman's place is taking care of the home because that's all they're capable of," and only took the counterargument halfway. Yes, women are capable of more things, or at least other things, and no one should be limited in their choices due to gender. But instead of arguing that the ability to do all the work needed to care for a home and family was proof that they could do things outside the home, too, or something similar, they seemed to try to build themselves up by demeaning the jobs expected of them, making themselves seem more important by making such "chores" seem less important, unworthy of their attention. "I've got better things to do than clean house all day." But these things are important, no matter who does them, and necessary, and no one really needs to be ashamed of having to or choosing to do them.

If I were writing a dissertation or something, I could probably spend ten to twenty pages extrapolating how this relates to this or that breakdown of the family or society in general, but, well, "I've got better things to do."