But there are a few twists and turns that bring this story into the 1980's, For instance, the emancipation of women. At least, that's what it's called. Although virtually any man can testify that working your ass off for 50 years is hardly emancipation. But we hardly have a right to speak on the matter. Women have to cross the road to get to the other side, so they're abandoning the nest in unprecedented numbers in pursuit of the same kinds of objectives I referred to above.
Female emancipation sets off a chain of events.
Men can no longer depend on free home care for their children, and as we're not about to pick up the slack, we grumble, dig a little deeper, and pay professionals to look after our children, although many of them are professionals only in that they take money. No one, at this point, is really sure what a childcare professional is. They're busy finding out, and they're finding out on our kids. Equally catastrophic is what it does to the relationship. For one thing, more and more wives are inclined to put off child rearing until their careers are well underway.