Embracing Womanhood

I heard a piece of Patricia Arquett's Oscar acceptance speech shouting for women equality and rights and of course it got cheers and "you go girl" responses from the audience. I understand women want the same opportunities as men. Want the same pay as men. Want to be treated with the same respect and I'm all for that, but I am worried that women will start embracing the workforce role more and more and neglect or do away with altogether the role of a wife and mother.

To me, it is saying that being a homemaker, being the nurturer and energy of the home isn't something to desire. That keeping the home welcoming and warm, having dinner ready when your husband gets home, making sure there are clean socks... they are worthless duties. They make you less of a woman.

I have been married for just over 6 years and not once have I felt trampled on or beneath my husband because I "just" cook and clean. Yes, I work outside the home, but my desire is to be a stay at home mother when that time comes. Nothing makes me feel more like a woman than when my home is cozy, when I make my husband's dinner plate and bring it to him (although he doesn't expect or demand it), when I have a clean kitchen, when I stand at the stove cooking. I find my identity in what my husband thinks of me not how high I've climbed on the corporate ladder.

Let me clear this up... I don't think any less of any woman who strives for the best in her career. I just wish that it wouldn't appear that you have to be "Woman Hear Me Roar" in order to be something important. I want woman to know that one role is not better or more valuable than the other. Whether you sit at a desk with stacks of paperwork or in a rocking chair holding your napping baby, you have value and you are a powerful woman! Whatever stage you are in, embrace being a woman in it. Be strong, be gentle, be a force to be reckoned with at work, be a boo-boo kisser at home, be a powerhouse, be feminine. Be what God has called you to be and nothing less!