The point about taking on student loan debt is very important. Taking on large loans to go to med, law, vet or business school tethers women to very demanding roles, which though lucrative complicate future family life.
Wow, this is such an important message to young women (and men). I'm a millennial woman who (gratefully) grew up prioritizing family life, marriage, and motherhood. I see the narrative shifting as more 30-somethings are leaning toward family, but it's been a long, hard lesson for our culture.
"But this is not the way many millennials (or even my fellow Gen Xers) would describe their upbringing. This group was more apt to hear about their rights than about their responsibilities."
• Recognize most of those "rights" correctly as "selfishness", and it becomes easy to see the change in the cultural perspective.
"All women ever hear is that it takes two incomes to “survive” today, which forms the mindset that you’ll have to work full-time and year-round your entire life."
• While women are those most directly affected by this belief, most of society, including their parents, friends, and, especially, potential husbands have also fully accepted it, leading to additional pressure on women to conform to it. A significant related motivation for women's career choices is the easy availability of no-fault divorce. The awareness of that possibility leads them to view a job as a necessary contingency.
You are so right. I remember growing up constantly hearing (and believing) that it takes two incomes to support a family - especially being from Southern California - that was accepted as Gospel. And trying to convince folks otherwise today is near impossible.
I’m glad you talked about debt and acknowledged its integral part in today’s infantile society. Every run of the mill life coach will advise the young adults to simply compartmentalize debt and work on other aspects of their lives. It’s not possible because your financial obligations will eliminate many flexible career choices, and the downstream effects are obviously delayed milestones.
This is why the economic downturns of 2007–2009 and 2020–2022 left deep scars. Many young people at the time failed to establish themselves, and that can linger for many years, perhaps even permanently.
Our 20s are a defining decade and your countercultural advice is something more people need to hear
Really good advice for young women and men.
The point about taking on student loan debt is very important. Taking on large loans to go to med, law, vet or business school tethers women to very demanding roles, which though lucrative complicate future family life.
Wow, this is such an important message to young women (and men). I'm a millennial woman who (gratefully) grew up prioritizing family life, marriage, and motherhood. I see the narrative shifting as more 30-somethings are leaning toward family, but it's been a long, hard lesson for our culture.
"But this is not the way many millennials (or even my fellow Gen Xers) would describe their upbringing. This group was more apt to hear about their rights than about their responsibilities."
• Recognize most of those "rights" correctly as "selfishness", and it becomes easy to see the change in the cultural perspective.
"All women ever hear is that it takes two incomes to “survive” today, which forms the mindset that you’ll have to work full-time and year-round your entire life."
• While women are those most directly affected by this belief, most of society, including their parents, friends, and, especially, potential husbands have also fully accepted it, leading to additional pressure on women to conform to it. A significant related motivation for women's career choices is the easy availability of no-fault divorce. The awareness of that possibility leads them to view a job as a necessary contingency.
You are so right. I remember growing up constantly hearing (and believing) that it takes two incomes to support a family - especially being from Southern California - that was accepted as Gospel. And trying to convince folks otherwise today is near impossible.
Oh, how I wish I had been given better advice - and listened. Oh, how I wish I didn't believe the lies and tell them to my daughters...
I’m glad you talked about debt and acknowledged its integral part in today’s infantile society. Every run of the mill life coach will advise the young adults to simply compartmentalize debt and work on other aspects of their lives. It’s not possible because your financial obligations will eliminate many flexible career choices, and the downstream effects are obviously delayed milestones.
This is why the economic downturns of 2007–2009 and 2020–2022 left deep scars. Many young people at the time failed to establish themselves, and that can linger for many years, perhaps even permanently.
Two important concepts come to mind:
Hypergamy - a woman of lower social status, marrying a man of higher social status to increase her status.
Solipsism - the tendency of women to perceive reality through their own subjective experience.