flipside of boys acting masculine, girls acting feminine?

I kind of wanna be a stay at home dad.
lol.
does that qualify?

I would add that those who choose to stay home and raise their families have chosen to do so. Why would anyone make them feel bad about their personal choice? Many women who work do so out of necessity, not choice. Kind of ironic if you ask me...

A parent should do what they can do in the best interest of their children. In our house, my husband stays home with the kids. My job much more easily has withstood the recession than his career choice would have. I think kids should be able to learn home ec in schools, but it should be all kids, not just the girls.

I think it would be great for schools to teach girls to cook and sew ... but only if they teach the boys, too.
Those are skills that EVERYBODY needs ... plus laundry, budgeting, credit cards, basic car maintenance, basic carpentry, etc.

Our high schools should make a basic life skills class mandatory for graduation.
We are pushing all students to learn calculus (which is great, but rarely real-life useful), whereas they'd be way better off if we taught them to understand credit and credit ratings or how to evaluate buying a car vs. leasing, etc.

I personally have no desire to stay at home whenever I get married and have kids. I definitely want to work! My best friend on the other hand will definitely stay at home when her and her husband start a family...it's just not my thing!

As long as it is a CHOICE, I see nothing wrong with it.

I wish my school would have offered those classes! I don't know a thing about sewing and I only know how to cook simple things! I totally want to be a stay-at-home mom too, always have!

I would love to be a stay at home mom! However I have to work to pay the bills. I don't think there is a more respectable job than taking care of your children. Also I do think that schools should teach cooking and sewing, but I think it should be taught to both boys and girls. My husband is a wonderful cook as is my father. Look at how many celebrity cooks there are... Bobby Flay, Emeril, Elton Brown, the list goes on and on. I think it is important for everyone to learn how to cook for themselvs and to not be reliant on someone else to feed them.

I believe women should stay at home if at all possible (nowadays that can be challenging)..I've done both and find it much more rewarding to stay at home to ensure that my child/ren and husband are taken care of. When I worked part-time some of my duties were neglected and I was not able to attend evening PTO functions or school programs. However, it can be balanced. As it relates to home economis (home ec)...shoot yeah... schools should implement those classes again - they are lessons you will carry on for life. As for the males - technical/vocational skills are vital (machinery, shop, carpentry, etc.) - those skills come in handy as well. Also, I find that simple business skills are needed... I've seen many people improperly dressed for interviews - business attire is still acceptable form of dress for interviews - not sandals, short skirts, blue jeans, t-shirt...etc. #myexperience

I'm not sure being a stay at home mom is always something someone aspires to be but that's to say its not rewarding or admirable. But, for those that do, I think its great. I graduated college, had a career but CHOSE to stay home with my kids. I can and will go back to working when the time is right. If anything, I think girls nowadays are pushed toward college, not being a homemaker or stay at home parent, at least that's how it was in my school. Plus, I don't think there is anything wrong with someone WANTING to be a stay at home parent.

I don't care that much what other people do as long as it doesn't hurt me.

^^^^my thoughts exactly!!

Feminism is about women having all the same choices and options as a man. And yes, one of those options is staying home with children. I would cringe a little about a girl planning on doing this because what happens if she never gets married? She needs a back up obviously.

ladies, does it bother you when you hear a woman aspire to be a stay-at-home mom instead of working a career? several of my friends feel offended by it because 'it's not the 50s; women can do more than that now'. how do you feel about schools teaching girls how to cook and sew (a lost art)?

I think it's a wonderful thing if a woman wishes to be home with her kids. It's not the right choice for every woman, and that is completely fine.

I work in academia, and there is a lot of stigma about women who quit to stay home with their kids more, but as a child of a single hardworking mother, I can say it would've been so nice to have her home more and more engaged in my life growing up.

My grandmothers taught me how to sew and cook, and even as a woman who is on her way to Ph.D. and a career, I consider them essential life skills not just skills for a homemaker. Everyone should know how to prepare a healthy meal for themselves and repair small holes in their garmets.

Do schools no longer offer Home Ec? I took it in junior high. My mother had taught me to "sew" but that class taught me how to read patterns, how to thread and handle the machine, etc. There were boys in the class as well, but it was an elective so only a few boys took it.

I work in academia, and there is a lot of stigma about women who quit to stay home with their kids more

I agree. When I left my job to be a stay at home mom, I got a lot of varied reactions. More often than not, the most negative, judgmental reactions were from my FEMALE coworkers.