I met a man who began a conversation with me, by bragging about corporations in America. He stated that corporations have made this country, and we should be giving them all the tax breaks we can. We moved on to corporate welfare. He found himself agreeing with me regarding this topic. This must have thrown him for a loop, because the next few moments I heard some of the most offensive things I have heard in quite sometime. He started off by calling me, young lady, and telling me that one day I would be taking care of myself, and find out I could not do it. I interrupted and told him, I had been taking care of myself for sometime and have done well thus far.

He proceeded to tell me the problems of society are a result of women working outside of the home. I am fairly certain this man knew I was a woman, which means he was blatantly telling me I should not be out practicing politics.

Unfortunately, the a fore mentioned items were not the most offensive thing he stated to me that night. He believed the reason most children are in foster care is because, women just pop kids out now-a-days for welfare money.

I was not even sure where to begin. I seen him backing up and dropping his finger to his side. I assumed he must have seen the shocked and amused look on my face.

I have begun to hear more and more, how great things were when women stayed home. How our country can blame all of its problems in society on women, and their inability to effectively mother.

Society has many problems, I don't believe women being forced to stay home will fix any of them. The 1950's conjure up an image of domestic bliss. Women skipping to the door when their husbands returned from work. That is the problem with nostalgia, we remember things the way we would like to, not the way they were. When I think of the 1980's the Cosby Show comes to mind. Obviously, I do not believe every family was like the Cosby's in the 1980's, but how cool would it be if they were?

The 1950's is about the time things began to change. Women began leaving husbands who cheated on, and/or beat them. Drug addiction began to be talked about. Physical and sexual abuse against children began to be discussed and taken seriously. In the 1990's most states had finally made it illegal to rape your wife. Previous to this there were actual laws on the book stating that women could not press charges against their husbands for rape. Times were changing; women were speaking out against abuse, and demanding to be treated right. Women began entering the workforce at high numbers. Today, it is near impossible for a family to survive off one person's income.

If women leaving the workplace would fix all things wrong in society, I may consider staying home. The truth is it won't, and it is unfortunate someone that lives in present day believes so. I do not believe if I stay home all families will stay together, all abuse will stop, and everyone will be happy.

My grandmother stayed home with her family, and did a great job. That is an individual's choice, and I do not believe I have a right to tell another person what is best for their family.

Working in the foster care system I was able to take a look into dysfunctional families. I attended a "Fathers Place" conference about a year ago. This conference was to help social workers get fathers interested and involved with their kids. This conference provided some disheartening statistics. Eighty percent of fathers do not, have regular contact with their children, while the child is in custody. Many outright refuse visitation. Some children who come in do not even know their father's name. Instead, they state they do not have one, like it is biologically possible. If we want to look at the erosion of family values we need to take an in depth look, it is not such a shallow subject.

I cannot name one family I dealt with, where the mother had children simply for welfare money. Many of the cases involved sexual abuse, something no one wants to discuss. It is much easier to sit at home and believe the issue is as simple as money.

I am proud to say, sexist comments like those mentioned above still make my heart drop out of my chest. No matter how many times I hear comments like those, the shock and disappointment are shattering. I hope to hold onto that.

I hope the next generation of females does not need to prove themselves worthy of competing with men. I hope it will be accepted, and I hope sex is not even a consideration of qualification. I hope we begin to address the problems that have arisen in the culture of men. I hope we can begin having real discussions instead of pointing the finger, there really is no one to blame, it just needs to be fixed. I hope that men and women will work together to solve these problems for our children. Our children learn from us, they learn how to treat others, how to treat their spouses, and family members. They learn how they are supposed to act, and what society expects from them.

I would like to point out, I am not complaining. I love a challenge, and enjoy it when people tell me I cannot do something. That does not mean every woman does, and it does not mean every female should have to encounter such hysteria from a few rotten eggs. Sometimes it seems so many things have positively changed for the female sex, and then boom, it is a smack in the face, deflating everything that has been worked for the last two thousand years. It is unfortunate someone can use the accomplishments and success of women as a scape goat for everything that is wrong in society. Society has a lot of disturbing issues, but motivated and intelligent women are not one of them.