Amy, in your own words: “In fact, my husband helps out way more than the average husband or father.”

Summary

Amy advocates for societal changes to support women's choices regarding work and motherhood, emphasizing the need for awareness, non-discrimination, support systems like maternity leave and child care, and political action to achieve these goals.

Abstract

The author, Amy, expresses a personal view that her husband contributes more than the average father, but clarifies that her stance is not anti-men. Instead, she calls for a broader societal improvement in supporting women's choices, particularly in balancing work and motherhood. Amy outlines a list of requests, including making women aware of the consequences of their choices, eliminating judgment and discrimination, and providing comprehensive support such as maternity leave, job security, and adequate child care. She also touches on the need for help at home post-childbirth. Recognizing the significant changes required in the economy, society, and politics to realize these goals, Amy suggests that achieving political power, particularly through the Democratic party, is crucial for implementing policies like maternity leave. She warns against gender-based anger, viewing it as a divisive issue that detracts from uniting on more pressing matters.

Opinions

Amy believes that her husband is more involved in household duties than most.
She is not targeting men in her call for societal change but is advocating for a collective improvement.
Amy insists on the importance of women being fully informed about the implications of their life choices.
She calls for an end to judgment and discrimination against women based on their personal and professional decisions.
She emphasizes the necessity of support structures for new mothers, including maternity leave, job security, and child care.
Amy suggests that political change, with a focus on Democratic control of government branches, is essential to enact policies that support women.
She criticizes the focus on gender anger as a distraction from more critical issues that require unity.
Amy implicitly questions the commitment of certain Republican female senators to women's issues based on their voting records.

Amy, in your own words: “In fact, my husband helps out way more than the average husband or father.” and “For the record (tune in here, men’s rights advocates), this is not a rant against men, it’s a call for society in general to do better.”

You conclude “We need to make it truly okay for women to opt out of working [my words: having an outside job; being a mom is a full time professional, already], too.”

What are you asking for?

Make women aware that their choices have consequences and there are sacrifices
No more judgements, put downs or discrimination based on the choices a woman makes in her life (from either men or women)
Provide support — maternity leave, job security, adequate child care — for every woman
[my words — and don’t leave a bag of used diapers and dirty laundry in the one place where I’m forced to live due to a post-delivery injury. If it’s not okay in a hospital room, it’s not okay in the bedroom]
[my words — feed me and the kids while I’m recuperating from child birth]

I would hope everyone could get on board with this totally reasonable list.

To make changes #1–3 will require a huge number of changes in the economy, society and politics.

In order to get the political power to implement #3, the Democrats to retake the House, get 60 Democratic Senators, a Democratic president, and add a couple of moderate Supreme Court Justices (so they can’t rule that businesses don’t have to provide maternity leave because of the CEO’s religious beliefs).

[And if you believe a Republican woman would help out, get real and look at the voting records of Senators Lisa Murkowski, Joni Ernst, Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe, Deb Fisher, Shelley Moore Capito, and Kelly Ayotte]

Focusing on gender anger (based on your recommended responses) is just one more wedge issue that keeps people from uniting on the most important issues.