God is in the Midst of Her...

I recently finished reading Danielle Crittenden's 1999 book, "What Our Mothers Didn't Tell Us." I couldn't put it down. It was irreverent, absolutely, and compelling without a doubt. I love it when authors are not afraid to speak their mind without worry (or in spite of worry) of cultural backlash. The premise of Crittenden's book is something that has long intrigued me, and to a certain extent, also offended me: feminism has failed women. In her introduction, Crittenden put it this way (paraphrased)...In 1970, the problem was that society recognized women were women, but failed to recognize they were also human. Today, the problem is while we recognize women are human, we have forgotten women are women...she goes on to devote chapters to sex, love, marriage, motherhood, aging, and politics; making a convincing case that not only is it OK to desire to be a wife and mother (and not only an independent career woman), but it is an innate and beautiful part of being female.

I have always longed to be a wife and mother myself; no dream is dearer to my heart. At various points in my life, I have also dreamed of being a singer, a doctor, an author, a journalist, an attorney, a nurse, a policy maker, and a midwife. And those dreams are also beautiful and meaningful and important. Today I am a nurse, and I am going to be a midwife too. But I have always felt a certain degree of shame that what I really, REALLY wanted -- to marry the man of my dreams and make babies with him -- was inferior and silly and June Cleaver-ish of me. Thus, reading Crittenden's book was so liberating and paradigm-shifting for me! No longer must I feel it is wrong or backwards to hope for what my heart wants most.

Read the book; I very highly recommend it. It is challenging and brave. You may love it or hate it, but I can promise you it will make you think.

http://www.amazon.com/WHAT-OUR-MOTHERS-DIDNT-TELL/dp/0684859599/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1240527894&sr=8-1#