Erica does not want to follow the career path of Helen Gurley Brown, founding femme of the single sexy Cosmo ideal. These housewife wannabes were discovered by market researchers who track such trends. Youth Intelligence, a tracking firm in New York City, finds that 68 percent of 3,000 married and single women between the ages of 18 and 34 prefer the domestic life if only they could afford it. Being a housewife is hip. The stresses aren't synthetic.
Several ideas suggest themselves.
The work mystique, as any working stiff knows, isn't all it's cracked up to be. Getting to the top is difficult. Once she arrives, the treadmill accelerates. The higher up she goes, the less personal power a woman has for enjoying her life. A growing number of women want a different kind of power in their lives, says Ms. Buckingham power to control their time, to feel safe and to reduce tension.