this is part of that

Today is a sick day. We had one on Friday, but Daddy stayed home to let me sleep and to take care of the boys until noon when I finally had the courage to get out of bed. Last night, Ike had issues going back to sleep after he woke himself coughing at 3 am. He never really rested again until about 7, after he'd been asleep in my arms for about an hour. He slept until 9 and is almost fully-recovered. Abe got up at his usual 6:30ish, so I've essentially not really rested since about 3.

This is all to preface the fact that I have watched a few episodes of Jack & Bobby. Cute little story about brothers and becoming President, then and now.

Anyway, there is a blip of a commentary by a "student" of their feminist professor/mom. I think it's relevant to some ideas I have about being a stay-at-home mother. I grapple (though I know I shouldn't) with how to explain to people who don't believe in my cause to be home with my children, especially those who say I need to be "using" my degree (as if I didn't actually learn something and don't use my skills from undergraduate and graduate school, right?).

I will also preface the quote with the idea that being a Christian isn't as blatant as wearing a head covering or being "Orthodox." Some cultures have outward ways of being set apart (i.e. holy), but I am not sure there are outward things that necessarily distinguish who I am. To wrap one's heart and mind around their identity, despite what society and academia deem right and noble, is half the battle. This quote does just that.

<<It’s not really even about me anymore. The one thing is: I still think you were unfair to me that day. You judged me superficially. You look at me and you see an oppressed [Muslim] woman, forced to cover her head by a misogynistic and backwards culture. That’s what you meant; you see me as a victim. I don’t think you see my choice in all of this. You know, in my hall there are two women who are anorexic, one who has breast implants, two others who are considering surgery either to their body or to their face, all of them obsess over their weight or their clothes and their looks. This is what your culture does to women. It suggests ideals they’ll never attain, and when they fail to attain them, it tells them they’re worthless. You talk about my conditioning, but what you don’t understand is that I am a feminist just like you, and this is a part of that. This is me saying “no” to all the ways your culture tries to exploit me. This is me saying “yes” to my religion and my God, not “no” to being liberated. I am liberated.>>