Are Women Getting Angrier?

Eliza is reading the new Liane Moriarty book "Nine Perfect Strangers". One of the themes is women's rage and frustration with life. It's a recurring message in Moriarty's novels which explore the complex lives of suburban mums. Eliza thinks the anger stems from the crunch between personal career ambitions and private domestic duties. It leaves little time for joy.

Somehow, the notion of "having it all" has been re-cast as greedy. Women are told they shouldn't aim for personal and professional bliss all at once. "You can have it all, just not at the same time" has become the common refrain. Which may be true, but prompts Eliza to wonder what women are willing to give up? 

Eliza believes motherhood is a lot more fun when you give yourself time to enjoy it.

Geraldine believes women are angrier now than in previous generations. Or maybe they’re just more willing to be honest about it. But she also acknowledges that there are many societal pressures making that work/life juggle harder than before.

It wouldn't be a Long Distance Call without discussion of international news and politics. This week Geraldine and Eliza have been horrified by the grizzly murder of a Saudi journalist at his own Consulate in Turkey.

LINKS

The poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-43643025

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/may/23/yulia-skripal-we-are-so-lucky-to-have-survived-attempted-assassination

 Thomas Friedman: Praying for Jamal Khashoggi

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/08/opinion/jamal-khashoggi-missing-saudi-journalist.html

Jamal Khashoggi’s Saudi Arabia - Saturday Extra 

https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/saturdayextra/jamal-khashoggis-saudi-arabia/10371604

 Nine Perfect Strangers – Liane Moriarty

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39280445-nine-perfect-strangers

The Magazine Interview: Liane Moriarty – The Times UK 

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-magazine-interview-liane-moriarty-the-author-of-big-little-lies-on-how-she-wrote-meryl-streep-into-the-latest-tv-series-sqz2d9svj

 (Note – this article sits behind a paywall. The full text is on the Facebook page Long Distance Callers)

 #MeToo, One Year On – The Economist

https://www.economist.com/leaders/2018/09/27/metoo-one-year-on

 The Female Eunuch – Germaine Greer

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Female_Eunuch

 Intimacy & Solitude – Stephanie Dowrick

http://stephaniedowrick.com/published-works/books/intimacy-solitude-3/

 

EpisodeEliza Harvey