Starting with the reading, I was intrigued with this topic. I am an optimistic person in general, so this this topic really interested me in looking at the present and seeing the future in a different light. History is important to understand how we got to where we are now, however solely concentrating on all the wrongs and challenges we as women have faced can be detrimental to our progress.

In the readings, a couple sections interested me in particular. First, the idea that "the working mother is now the norm (while) the stay-at-home father is still a front-page anomaly". This switch we are experiencing today from housewives to businesswomen is going smoothly while the men's switch from the business-world to the household is much more rough. This, I think, is because women are rising in status, while men are falling, and people complain and draw attention much more when they are loosing something than gaining something.

Secondly, the observation that "women these days are not more likely to rate themselves happier than women did in the 1970s. Choice creates its own set of anxieties--new spheres to compete in and judge yourself wanting, a constant fear that you might be missing out". Normally in a rise to power and status, one would think people become happier, however, in this case, women are rising to a status of more responsibility and expectation. Once I thought about this, it definitely makes sense  that women are not happier even though it seems like it shouldn't be the case. Hopefully, if women were asked if they felt more fulfilled and satisfied, more would say yes today.

Lastly, "assuming a world run by women is more 'tender' seems to me, again, just a story we tell ourselves to make the current massive upheavals in gender roles seem tamer and more predictable, when they are anything but: more like revolutionary, potentially exhilarating, and sometimes frightening, but altogether inevitable. So the least we can do is to see them clearly". This ending asks us to understand the history of the women's movement and struggle, however it also points out that continuing to see the gender roles as they always have been would be wrong. We need to take our understanding of the history of women and apply it to the future, not stay caught up in it.

Ogden's presentation and discussing the different classes of women today and our own family histories was really interesting. I appreciated seeing a glimpse into each of our families and understanding how they are evolving from, or still somewhat following the stereotypical norms. Sure, there are still obstacles to overcome (equal pay and everyday sexism), however how much of this do we let affect us and how much of this do we actively push beyond? I feel that we need to become better at seeing issues such as these and work to not take them personally and improve them as we can, individually. These obstacles are ready to fall, though as we continue to let them effect and limit us, we let them continue to stand.