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Mother Was Once A Daughter
A baby girl doesn’t know what lies ahead of her, that she will lead a life of limited discovery based on her sex. She doesn’t know that her mother will never vote, learn to drive a car, or earn money. Though she surpasses these markers, they will not be great victories. She doesn’t know that her family summered yearly on a lake, and no one would teach her how to swim, so she sat on shore or played alone while her father and four brothers swam, boated, and fished. She didn’t know that men would prey on her at night in her bed, that this happened to her mother when she was a girl, and no one questioned the practice.
The girl doesn’t know she will wear modest dresses throughout childhood, whether she wanted to or not. By the time she entered teenhood in the mid forties, stylish trousers for women appeared in advertisements and stores, and though her father disapproved, she launched rebellious behavior that would become her way of looking out for her interests, and made good use of the sewing machine to expand her wardrobe.
As a girl, a daughter, she was not encouraged to study and learn. Her path was to develop housemaking, mothering and wifely skills. These skills weren’t seen as honored accomplishments, but behind the scenes fundamentals necessary to further a man’s career and success.
