Junior Carrie Krack laughs when she thinks of describing her mother's job to a politically-correct society. \n"I always say she's a homemaker," Krack said. "I know it's kind of looked down upon."\nBy now, Krack knows to expect mixed reactions. \n"I honestly think that (raising children) is the most important job even though it doesn't pay," she said.\nAfter she graduates with a degree in secondary education, Krack says she hopes to follow her mother's example. She, too, wants to stay at home, despite receiving a degree from IU. Krack says she would rather start a family and stay home with her kids than work. Krack's stay-at-home plan isn't a long-term career, but she doesn't want her kids to consider day care their permanent home.\nWith a pair of tennis shoes tucked under her, Krack might not symbolize June Cleaver. But between chugs on her water bottle, Krack explains her vision of a modern, stay-at-home mom, much different than Cleaver's role in "Leave it to Beaver."\n"A lot of women feel they can have part-time jobs and stay at home," Krack said, acknowledging the success of door-to-door Mary Kay cosmetics. \nWhile the number of full-time women workers has decreased, the number of part-time workers has increased, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.\nHer hair tied up in a wispy ponytail after a Friday morning jog, Krack talks about society's evolving perception of women.\n"It seems like it always comes back to that idea of money," Krack said. "Am I going to be able to (stay home) financially?"\nThough she can't begin to explain why, Krack said she's noticed a shift in society's perception of stay-at-home moms.\nWithin less than a decade, the number of children raised by stay-at-home moms has increased by 13 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Ivy League-educated women are rebelling against the work force. Highly qualified women are rejecting fame and fortune for the comforts of family life. They're choosing kids instead of career. \nFifty years after women swarmed the work force, they're going back home, leaving experts to question if the feminist fad is out of fashion. Social scientists are trying to discover if the increasing number of stay-at-home moms is a retroactive revolution or some sort of new-age feminist movement.\nA women's world\nSome, like New York Times Magazine reporter Lisa Belkin, are trying to offer their own explanations. In Belkin's "The Opt-Out Revolution," she explains the decision to stay at home as more than a flippant desire to leave the work force. \n"Why don't women run the world?" she asked. "Maybe it's because they don't want to."\nWhile three out of every five women are working, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more educated women who have the freedom to stay home are avoiding the work force. \nFeminists from the 1970s might have expected women to soar to positions of power with the destruction of legal barriers, but they haven't. \nBelkin traces the story of Ivy League graduates. In Stanford's class of '81, 25 percent of women stayed home for at least three years. \nHarvard's Business School reported less successful statistics. A survey of 1981, 1985 and 1991 graduates showed 38 percent as full-time employees.
Philosophy Perspectives\nPhilosophy professor Peg Brand explores similar ideas in her class, "Feminism and Value: The Writings of Simone de Beauvoir."\n"So many more women want flexibility in a schedule," Brand said.\nIn addition to looking at census data, she emphasized the importance of looking at the number of women with part-time jobs. Brand knows the complicated issues surrounding stay-at-home moms seems impossible to grasp within the confines of statistics.\n"Instead of fitting in the way society has set up jobs, women want to create new structures," she said.\nFor Brand, a woman's right to choose is the most important element. \n"If she's chosen to stay home -- she's freely picked it out of a wide variety of options, that's empowering," Brand said.\nIn her class, Brand explores de Beauvoir's feminist philosophies. De Beauvoir encouraged all women to have a "life project." Since motherhood only takes a few years, de Beauvoir didn't think staying at home would constitute a sufficient life project.\n"If you're staying at home to raise your kids, they'll grow up," Brand said. "You can't bank on it as a long-term strategy."\nBrand never stayed home because she didn't have to raise children. But taking care of her grandchildren has provided Brand with a sense of the difficulties mothers face.\n"I chase after 2-year-olds," she said. "It's harder than writing philosophy."\nBrand also questions society's definition of work. \n"We value pay … and don't value women who work at home for no pay," she said. \nBut Brand foresees change.\nShe said women can easily stay at home and remain feminists. But with women teaching, volunteering and raising children, Brand laughed at the modern-day image of a housewife. \n"I'm not sure it's easy," she said with a sigh.\nDespite difficulties, Brand views the trend as a step forward. When people have choices, they think, she said. And, for Brand, actively engaged thinkers always lead to better results.\nStudents for choice\nMegan Miller, a self-proclaimed feminist and president of the Women's Student Association, views the increasing number of stay-at-home mothers with a neutral attitude. \n"It's not necessarily a bad or good thing," she said. "I think it's great if moms want to stay home. It should be more respected, if anything. It's a hard job and a good thing to be doing."\nBut Miller, a business marketing major, doesn't want to stay home. \nRather than suspect negativity in a statistic, Miller views the trend in societal context. With the recent trend of stay-at-home dads, Miller thinks the idea of stay-at-home parents yields gender equality. \n"It's the realization that they both have opportunities available," she said.\nMiller knows; her mom managed to juggle the task of a housewife and feminist simultaneously. \n"I see how much work my mom does," Miller said. "She thinks of it as a career and works to do the best in everything she does."\nBut within the apparent luxury of staying at home, Miller sees negatives.\n"I can see areas in which (my mom) is not happy," Miller said. "You're always giving. It's not always rewarding -- laundry, cooking. People eat it, and then it's gone."\nThough Miller admires her mother's dedication to family life, Miller has decided staying at home isn't the choice for her. She wants a career.\n"I have a very ambitious personality," she said. "It wouldn't correspond with my goals."\n-- Contact features editor Asma Khalid at amkhalid@indiana.edu.
