A Day Without Women should include children too

On March 8 thousands of women took to the streets in peaceful protest, but for the wrong reasons. For all the signs demanding equality in everything from equal pay to gender rights, not one sign could be found demanding equal treatment for women-for the sake of her children. Somehow, amidst all the yelling and screaming of self actualization, the need to put a woman and her happiness first, the children were conveniently forgotten.  

The most common collocation in the English language is women AND children, not women and their paychecks. For decades, paychecks were the man's responsibility for a reason. Odd, nobody was protesting that. 

Imagine a protest of thousands of women carrying signs urging men to "step up" and "put our children's welfare first." All women deserve the choice to either stay home or bring home the bacon. 1960's feminism may have liberated us from our pots and pans and floor waxers but the fallout was losing two decades of men to the divorce culture that followed. Today's hard working women are feeling more stressed out than ever. Let's address the real reason for this-a day (make that many days) without men. 

Once upon a time, it was men who dominated the low-wage food service and retail industries. It was men who stood in the soup lines during the Great Depression. In the 1960's men dominated the workforce so wives and mothers (even childless ones) could stay home. That's not the case today. It is a subject worth protesting.

A day without women is a great idea. Men would be living on cereal and Top Ramen, washing their shirts in Fabreeze and drowning in their own dirty dishes if not for women. And when men refuse to "step up" and take responsibility for the families they create, women have no choice but to take action. And our children are suffering for it. Just ask any elementary grade school teacher. A job no man wants.

The world needs more necks turning the patriarchal heads, more hands to rock the cradle and keep the hearth fire burning. Who else's shoulders would the responsibility fall in training up a child in the way they should go? If women want to be equal with men in everything, women must first acknowledge and celebrate their own special ability to create and nurture life.

The world would be a desolate and barren place without women. Think about that for a moment.

So, the next time there's a Day Without a Woman march, let's remind the public of the equal importance of men stepping up. Women should not be expected to do everything. Give women the freedom to choose but let it be done for the sake of the children.