To the delight of all of us caterwauling feminist harpies, women have made tremendous advances since the heyday of the sit-com mom of the 1950s. We're in more boardrooms, we're living longer, and the freedom to decide our reproductive choices (while under threat) remains in our hands. One thing that hasn't changed too much since the '50s, sadly and unfortunately? The image of the stay-at-home mom. Of course this airbrushed ideal never actually existed, and was largely pushed by Don Draper-style advertisers. Still, I say f*ck Mad Men, SAHMs need a grown-ass man, because there are things grown-ass men say to stay-at-home moms that everyone else should know about (and say, too).
I'll be the first to admit that things are getting better for stay-at-home moms in regard to being understood. Thanks to the internet in general and social media in particular, what was once a cloistered, out-of-the-public-eye job is getting attention. "Equitable division of labor" is a term a lot of people have heard on the news and in think-pieces in major newspapers and magazines. However, we're not quite there, yet, and in order to eventually get "there," men and women need to step up and proactively try to make things equal, fair, and more beneficial for everyone involved.
It's going to take SAHMs talking about their actual experiences, not just the picture-perfect ones, and voicing how they need help. It's going to take their partners asking how they can help. It's going to require a society that enables both parties to do these things without taboo or judgment. And, of course, it's going to take everyone truly realizing that being a mom (stay-at-home or otherwise) is not a woman's only identity, but rather an aspect of who she is.
To be sure, it's a tall order, but it's perfectly acceptable to start small and in one's own home. So, what are the things grown-ass men can say to their SAH-partners to speed along the glorious feminist revolution?