She let it go 2

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

Larissa wasn't talked into changing her view of the world. No one argued her out of the radically feminist viewpoint. She wasn't talked into embracing genuine differences in women's and men's roles as a practical, workable solution to life.  But that's how she sees the world now.

It happened in a natural way.When she and her boyfriend started living together, they split the bills proportionately and the chores (laundry, housekeeping, etc.) evenly. But things changed when they became parents (image). 

Instead of going back to work, she stayed home and they married: "leaving that soft little creature who fit so snugly into my arms . . felt deeply wrong. I wanted to provide for this baby what he needed, and that was me. To do this, I needed Chris [her husband] far more than a bicycle or anything else."

They fell into doing the "tasks that made the most sense." Essentially she began to scoff at some feminist principles, like refusing to allow a man to hold a door for her. She gave up on male-coded tasks she had always tried to do.

They found that building a home and family was so hard that each had to do whatever they were good at. They needed each other.

from "How I Became a Wife"