Jacque Reid & the Mama Grizzlies | Are American Women Inherently Conservative?

RedTracker| Skimming Foreign Policy, we noticed ‘When She Brings Home the Bacon’, written by Jacque Reid for The Root. This was hardly the article we went looking for on Foreign Policy.

Given our prior post on the Mama Grizzlie, conservative-led goal of getting American women back in the kitchen, so that men can fulfill their ‘natural’ roles, we paused to read the Reid piece which begins:

“Let’s keep it real. Do I want to marry a man who pays for everything? Absolutely. And I would bet most women want the type of marriage that will allow them the option of working or staying home.”

While being a stay-at-home mom is often perceived as a luxury among African Americans, it seems sensible to argue that all women would like the option of staying at home with their children — if you assume this is women’s natural role.

Many modern European societies do not, working instead to create work and family policies that put both parents in the role of caretakers and joint responsible for family finances.

Reid cites several articles on women as breadwinners:

Female breadwinners bring home the bacon and tension by Rebecca Meisenback

8 Reasons to Date a White Man by LaShaun Williams at MadameNoire.com

Alpha Women, Beta Men at New York Magazine

Reid references the increasingly targeted role of religion in restoring a natural balance between the sexes:

Eventually, men may feel the downside of being supported. Often, black female breadwinners are blamed for not “knowing our role.” Black men feeling this way should consider something my pastor, the Rev. A.R. Bernard of Brooklyn, N.Y.’s Christian Cultural Center, said in church recently. Bernard, who has counseled married couples for more than 30 years, touched on the importance of the man managing the household, especially financially.

This last paragraph caused Anne to reflect on her experience in Brooklyn in the summer of 2009.

Preparing to descend the subway stairs with her good friend on a warm, summer morning, dressed in a loosely-fitting Banana Republic halter dress, a Muslim man accosted her friend — not her — telling him to turn Anne over to him so that he could take her to the mosque and teach her how to dress.

Anne was stunned. Read her in-depth articles on life for women in America, now and in the future.