The Triple Shift

Written from the prospective of a 1950's housewife in search of equal rights for women.

A 'new man' who is he?
Can he come and help me?
I do all the work day and night,
with the hope that help he might,
have the children bathed and in bed,
as I walk in a story being read.
Unfortunately this is not the case
because according to him that is my place...

I come home to find the house a mess.
According to feminists I am oppressed.
I do it all with little reward,
not so much as a drink is poured
Pots, pans and dishes left undone
a pile of ironing that weighs a ton.
Please get a cloth out, dust a shelf
just do something that doesn't benefit yourself

Yes, I am a parent and a housewife
but there is also another part of my life
where I sit in an office and push my pen.
Oakley says I live a duel burden
A triple shift that never ceases to end
although feminists do try to mend,
it is ideas an attitudes from within
which dominate this patriarchal society we live in! 

By Nicole Lauren Stephenson