Can you really say that being a stay home Mother is a career?

[RainDog]

102. since you've never been a stay-at-home mom

and have no children and have repeatedly said you don't want them and have no experience with parenting, etc.. (including parenting children with special needs)... how can you know what it's like to be a stay-at-home mom? what is a "stay-at-home mom" style of job? how is that different than other jobs?

why do you assume that every such circumstance is the same? this is a class issue - the luxury of taking time off from a job that's paid for by others. but, honestly, how is it different than someone who leaves a job and decides to take time to write fulltime, or to travel and write about it - what skills are those people bringing to other jobs? and how is this different than what some women do or have done?

you assume that every parent who ever stayed home has no skills that are used in various ways - and this simply isn't true.

the truth is that parents who opt to have one that is designated as the "at home" parent have the financial resources to do so if they make such a decision. sometimes those resources include money from the job of the parent who decided to change that job and be at home with children. that person didn't become brain-dead because of one choice vs. another.

just because the male-identified position in society has been work for pay, and because our society is structured to pretend that's more important - this isn't necessarily so.

something that women or men who stay home for an extended time have to realize is that this usually impacts their entire working lives - this is one reason that women earn less than men, on average, over the course of their careers.

If I were you, I would maybe step back and recognize that you really are just talking about gender stereotypes, not real people.