Women in the past stayed in some very, bad, dangerous marriages because they had no choice. They were tied to men who were "good providers" because they couldn't get jobs that would support their families. In 1966 women made .60 for every dollar that a man earned. (Today we're up to .77) They usually had large families because until the 1960's birth control wasn't widely available. When I started working in 1978, women still had to have their husband's permission to get a tubal ligation.
I know this probably isn't where you intended this to go, but I just had to say I don't miss those good ole days.
I really don't want to derail my own thread, but I just need to reply to a few points. I consider myself a feminist and I am deeply sympathetic to the struggles women have faced in the past and those that they continue to face today. Naturally, I believe in divorce in cases of abuse where the spouse is unable or unwilling to change or domestic violence.
Can we agree something is wrong when the divorce rate is as high as it is now? I hope so, because why else are we here? Can we also agree that societal expectations for men have increased instead of societal expectations for women decreasing? Can we also agree that these expectations are largely used to sell us things we don't need?
