While I am a busy stay-at-home mother, I had to take a few minutes to respond to the March 27 letter titled “On being paralyzed.” (I won’t even address the letter writer’s false accusations against President Trump’s “unconstitutional” use of power. Consider that much of what is on the chopping block was established unconstitutionally to begin with. Furthermore, using the “white supremacist” label for the over 77 million Trump voters only causes the author to lose credibility. Democracy won in 2024, despite the political left’s disinformation campaign of fear tactics).
What I want to ask is this: If women in America are as oppressed as the letter’s author says they are, then why are there more women physicians, women scientists, and women attorneys today than ever before? According to the Pew Research Center, women have increased their presence in most of the 10 highest paying occupations in the U.S. since 1980. To observe true oppression of women, look at Afghanistan where the Taliban forbids secondary and university education of females. I’m sorry that the letter’s author wasn’t afforded a college education as a young woman. Bravo to her for persevering on her own and attending nursing school.
The erroneous idea that staying home with her family strips a woman of “her mind, her rights, her achievements, and her contributions” is an affront to a significant number of women. Consider that many stay-at-home mothers like myself are college graduates, yet we choose to stay home with our children because we see the moral decay of our society and have determined that at this time in our lives our God-given calling is in our homes raising our children. Political and religious affiliations aside, there are plenty of hard-working, dedicated mothers who choose to stay home and raise their children because they believe it is a valuable investment of their time and talents.
Rather than feeling “oppressed” and “reduced” as the author suggests, many stay-at-home mothers feel it is a joy to be actively involved in the physical, spiritual, and emotional upbringing of our precious children who have been entrusted to us by God. Investing full-time in their lives while they are at home is one of the most rewarding jobs a woman can choose.
Leah Gaston, Franklin