Damn that Mary Tyler Moore!

Wasn't she cute? Perfect hair, perfect outfit. Gung-ho and ready to take on the world. That Mary Tyler Moore taught old Mr. Grant a thing or two about giving the women the same opportunities as men, didn't she? Well, I'd like to point out one little flaw in the agenda of Mary and her 70's generation women's right's co-horts . . . . . you forgot to put house work on the bargaining table! You won us equal pay and equal opportunity, but you forgot to require men to pick up their own goddamn underwear. Hmmm. . . . wonder why the divorce rate suddenly jumped in the 70's and 80's? I mean, you gals had good intentions. . . we should be treated fairly in the workplace, but 35 years later we're still holding down most of the responsiblity at home. All you really did was increase the amount of work that's required of us. Now, not only is our family banging their forks demanding a dinner time meal (not to mention the FDA now requesting that the meal be healthier or we will have the added guilt when our children pork up from too many times through the drive-thru), but our bosses are banging their Palm Pilots demanding the latest updates on projects. Thank you, ladies. You really thought this one through. My generation of husbands do seem to be responding somewhat to the changes in traditional roles. I think mostly because our generation has stepped up to the plate and started making the same "equal opportunity" demands at home that Mary did in the boardroom. My hope is the next generation, our sons, will not think twice about scrubbing the tub or making doctor's appointments for the kids and our daughters will finally have the equal playing field that their grandmother's were fighting for. And of course if the "demand" approach isn't working too well at home we can always turn to a softer, "bartering" approach such as, "Honey, I guess if I have to do all the laundry myself I won't have time to give you that hand job you've been asking for. Sorry". Too bad that won't work on the boss. . . then again.