It’s no secret that many of us would dream of earning a full-time salary without having to complete a strenuous day of work for eight hours, five days a week. Even if most of us were not required to work and did not make the money we do at our jobs, it would be nice to be able to kick our feet up and relax much more often than we can imagine in current times.
One woman believes that this lifestyle was once right at her fingertips before it was stripped away by women’s rights activists in the 1900s. She reminds us that there was once a time when women were not allowed to work outside of their households, and admits that she is more suited for this life than the current one she is living in.
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The woman cries as she asks why we fought so hard to earn women the right to work in the first place.
Like many of us who work full-time, Tay (@taymcconish) is feeling burnt out and exhausted. She took to TikTok to express her frustrations and blames those who fought to allow women in the workforce.
“Whoever fought to get women jobs…Why?” the tearful 22-year-old asks in a TikTok video that has been viewed nearly 6 million times. “Why did we do that? I am so tired. I want to just put my feet up.”
Tay reveals in the video’s caption that she is clearly at her breaking point, mentally and physically exhausted from work.
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Tay’s feelings were those that many working women could relate to.
“Someone had to say it,” one TikTok user commented. “They should have fought a little less hard,” another user noted of the women’s rights movement.
“Who thought ANYONE should have to work? We should all be sitting on the beach eating cheese and wine,” another user hilariously shared.
Other women noted that working full-time is especially difficult for them when they are expected to manage their households on top of their jobs.
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“Cause now we have to work AND do the house chores,” one user pointed out. “We fought to do something OTHER than cleaning the house but tell me why I’m still doing it????” another user wrote.
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While working full-time is undoubtedly difficult and draining at times, the rights women have gained in the process are worth it.
it is important to acknowledge that women were once forbidden from having the financial independence that we have now.
In fact, women in the U.S. were expected to remain at home, managing the household and family while their spouses went out to work until the 1970s after Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964. The act prohibited employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, and gender. Although, discrimination based on gender was not initially proposed on the bill and was only added in Title VII as an attempt to prevent it from passing.
Additionally, the National Organization for Women (NOW) formed and urged President Lyndon B. Johnson to uphold the promises in Title VII for equal employment opportunities for women.
Women’s rights advocates had to continuously fight for equality, given that just a little over a century earlier, married women had just been granted the right to even own property in their name. To many, they were considered property themselves, under the ownership of their husbands and fathers.
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Still, working women face difficulties due to the gender wage gap.
Even in today’s workforce, women still earn significantly less than men due to the wage gap. In the first quarter of 2023, full-time working women who hold salary positions had median usual weekly earnings of around $996, 84% of men’s weekly earnings of $1,186.
Studies indicate that closing this wage gap could take a significant amount of time. According to PWC’s Women in Work Index 2023, it will take more than half a century before we close the gender wage gap. According to the report, the biggest contribution of the current wage gap is the loss of earnings experienced by women who are balancing raising their families with their work lives.
Working women often feel overwhelmed with balancing their jobs and taking care of their families.
Many women, even with the freedom to work outside the home today, still take on a load of household chores and caring for the children, since it was their assumed role not too many years ago.
54% of heterosexual marriage households where both parents work full-time report that it is the mother who mostly manages the household and the children’s schedules, per Pew Research.
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This could be a major factor contributing to burnout in so many women employees in today’s workforce. In too many cases, they are the ones pulling double duty, balancing a career and their family.
Indeed, we should not romanticize the fact that just a few decades ago, women were forbidden to work outside of the home and from having any financial independence. It is also true that many women employees in this day in age who have the privilege of working also face the burden of receiving lower pay and doing more work around the house after a long day as opposed to their male counterparts.
However, as we’ve learned from the past, it is never too late to advocate for change. Some men can start by picking up the slack by helping out at home to take some stress off of their hard-working partners. Employers can start discussing and working toward closing the wage gap.
Women are an integral part of today’s workforce, accounting for 50.04% of jobs in the U.S. It is essential that we do everything in our power to allow them to thrive and succeed.
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Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.
This article originally appeared on YourTango
