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A review by bianca89279
Accidental Feminists by Jane Caro
5.0
Women over fifty-five are the fastest-growing group to experience homelessness in Australia. The number one reason for homelessness is escaping domestic violence, unexpected, major life circumstances and lack of affordable and social housing.
This book was published in 2019, and since then, the issues have grown exponentially, the increased cost of living affecting an increasing number of people.
Jane Caro looks back at her time growing up, and at the achievements of feminism, including the #meetoo movement. She's concerned about the plight of women of a certain age, who after years of caring for their families and putting everyone's needs ahead of theirs, find themselves in their fifties and sixties with no superannuation or very little, single, no housing and no possibility to get decent employment due to lack of skills and/or ageism and sexism.
Society, patriarchal beliefs, the tax system, the lack of adequate and affordable childcare, and especially the fact that women do the majority of caring are some of the many barriers that see women 's financial disadvantage compounding.
Of course, there had never been more women with power and financial affluence, which allows women over a certain age to finally have the time to do volunteer work and enjoy hobbies and take up new interests that they could never find the time to do while caring for kids and/or working.
We need more women in power, in all fields. The saying/stats show that if you lift a woman out of poverty, she'll bring up four other people with her.
We need more women to be in power, not only because women represent over 50% of the population. And most importantly, we should demand and expect that women's contributions as carers are recognised in a tangible way, and by tangible I don't mean the crappy Mother's Day gifts - as in financial recompense so that their later years are comfortable. Like it or not, if women stopped providing care services, nobody would achieve anything. Just think about it, everything women do is devalued. Women do most of the cooking, who are the most celebrated chefs - men! Women did most of the sewing and mending, yet men are the "great designers" - yes, I'm rolling my eyes big time and may have said very "unlady" like words (speaking of which, using lady to describe certain attributes is another way of keeping women in their place - be pretty, demure and most importantly, quiet, but I digress).
I could write an essay on the book and its topics, but I've got to go cook dinner...
This book was published in 2019, and since then, the issues have grown exponentially, the increased cost of living affecting an increasing number of people.
Jane Caro looks back at her time growing up, and at the achievements of feminism, including the #meetoo movement. She's concerned about the plight of women of a certain age, who after years of caring for their families and putting everyone's needs ahead of theirs, find themselves in their fifties and sixties with no superannuation or very little, single, no housing and no possibility to get decent employment due to lack of skills and/or ageism and sexism.
Society, patriarchal beliefs, the tax system, the lack of adequate and affordable childcare, and especially the fact that women do the majority of caring are some of the many barriers that see women 's financial disadvantage compounding.
Of course, there had never been more women with power and financial affluence, which allows women over a certain age to finally have the time to do volunteer work and enjoy hobbies and take up new interests that they could never find the time to do while caring for kids and/or working.
We need more women in power, in all fields. The saying/stats show that if you lift a woman out of poverty, she'll bring up four other people with her.
We need more women to be in power, not only because women represent over 50% of the population. And most importantly, we should demand and expect that women's contributions as carers are recognised in a tangible way, and by tangible I don't mean the crappy Mother's Day gifts - as in financial recompense so that their later years are comfortable. Like it or not, if women stopped providing care services, nobody would achieve anything. Just think about it, everything women do is devalued. Women do most of the cooking, who are the most celebrated chefs - men! Women did most of the sewing and mending, yet men are the "great designers" - yes, I'm rolling my eyes big time and may have said very "unlady" like words (speaking of which, using lady to describe certain attributes is another way of keeping women in their place - be pretty, demure and most importantly, quiet, but I digress).
I could write an essay on the book and its topics, but I've got to go cook dinner...