Life is full of coincidences. They usually and probably don’t mean anything at all. Except, of course, when they happen to you.
Very recently, I got an inexplicable urge to watch Sex and the City. Though I had long since decided that all of these women are laughable caricatures of human beings (and especially of “modern” women), I couldn’t help myself. I mean, Aidan is just so cute and Mr. Big is just so awful and Carrie is just so well-dressed. The episode I randomly watched centered around Charlotte’s decision to give up her incredible gallery job to focus on (not being but, hopefully) becoming a mother and curing pediatric AIDS via a kick-ass fundraiser. 
Yesterday, my dear friend Will sent me an Atlantic Monthly article called “I Choose My Choice!” by Sandra Tsing Loh. This being the phrase that Charlotte somewhat pathetically clings to when defending her decision to quit, or dare-I-say “opt-out,” of her unbelievably great job. The article makes a compelling (though now somewhat redundant) claim that the “fruits of the feminist revolution” are “sisterhood, empowerment, and eight hours a day in a cubicle.” Better reading, playing, and listening to NPR all day than toiling 80 hours a week in a boring and hated job. Who can argue with that?
Linda Hirshman. In “Homeward Bound,” Hirshman also references Charlotte’s “I chose my choice!” hysteria. Unlike Loh, Hirshman unapologetically condemns Charlotte. Her argument (not entirely unique, either) is that Charlotte’s “choice” is no “choice” at all: “‘Choice feminism’ claims that staying home with the kids is just one more feminist option. Funny that most men rarely make the same ‘choice.’ Exactly what kind of choice is that?”
What kind of choice, indeed? I have my opinions, but, in a rare act of self-restraint, I’m going to let you draw your own conclusions.
Read these two articles and see where you stand. Write in, while you’re at it, because I’m desperately curious to know.
- Vetta
