Member-only story
Dear (Fellow) Millennials — No, You Did Not “Invent” Feminism
Baby boomer and Gen X women didn’t enjoy being oppressed
Let me tell you a story. A story of a woman — called Jane. She’s beautiful, smart and like each one of us wants a good life for her. She’s 20, and she gets married to a man she’s barely known, but their families think they’ll be a good match.
He’s a lot older — he’s 32. She trusts her family, and their intention and happily goes on to live with this man. Life isn’t as she hoped it would be. She’s confined to the four walls of the house, asked to do household chores — and bear children. She wants to tell people, but there’s no one that would listen. She barely has contact with her family, barring the semi-annual trip to her parents’ house. But the husband goes with her every time.
When she tells her mom, she tells her —
“It’s OK. That’s what happened to me too — it will all get better with time. You’re a woman. Your place is in the house — don’t wish for things you can’t have.”
The mother says this, but inside she knows she’s wrong. She was once 20 too. She had the same concerns and she voiced them too. Her mom told her this, and it helped lessen the pain — eventually.
