Introduction

It's Women's Rights Month, and as you might expect, there's been a lot of talk about the career and pay obstacles many women still face.
While I can't refute the research, I'm frustrated by women's persistence to push forward and conquer the workplace, when the negative effects on their families are becoming so obvious.
Instead of focusing on what we haven't been able to accomplish, I think it's time to take a step back, look how far we've come and ask ourselves, "was it worth it?"

Before you call me a traitor, let me explain.

I was raised to believe that I could be anything I wanted to be. The sky was the limit! As a child of the 80's, I never experienced a world where women did not participate in the workplace. By the time I was old enough to start thinking about my own future and career, women were working all around me. Teachers, doctors, news anchors; everywhere I turned there was a female role model encouraging me to join the workforce, and they did it without ever saying a word. In fact, it almost felt expected.

While my own mother stayed home to raise myself and my four siblings, I felt a responsibility to forge ahead; to embrace my feminine power. I wasn't going to depend on a man to take care of me. I certainly wasn't going to stay home changing diapers and wiping snotty noses all day. I was going to be a career woman, make lots of money, and live a beautiful single life with no one to answer to but myself. I was a perfectionist; driven, determined, and motivated to compete in the real would without ever for a second thinking that I might be at a disadvantage.

It wasn't until recently that I realized my feminine freedoms came with a big price tag. And while I believe we women are footing some of the bill, it is our children, our husbands, our neighbors, and our friends who are truly paying the price.

That's why, over the next few weeks, I plan to examine the women's movement in our country, and the effects women's changing role has had on our society. I want to show how our blind ambition has lead to some of societies biggest problems.
Who knows? Maybe I will find that I'm wrong, that we women truly can have it all. Maybe it isn't our fault that our children are fat and lazy, that our communities are crumbling, and that our personal lives are lacking.

But, if I'm right, and we are responsible, even in some small way, I hope we will have the strength to do the right thing. Instead of complaining about what we still don't have, ladies, let's get our priorities straight and refocus our efforts on the important things in life. I believe it's the only way we will ever lead happy, satisfying, and full-filling lives. After all, isn't that what we all want?