Here's to the Lionesses (Primary Breadwinner Women)

The Pew Research Center analyzed U.S. Census Bureau data and found that, in 40% of American families, a woman is the primary or sole breadwinner.  I briefly saw a clip from Fox News in which Megyn Kelly was giving a smackdown to some male talking head who said that it wasn't the natural order of things for women to be in this position.  I couldn't stand to watch the rest of the clip.

Not natural?  Tell that to the lionesses.

In nature, lionesses are the primary meatwinner -- I say "meatwinner" because lions ain't eating bread out on the savannah -- for their families.  The male lion is pretty much, well, useless, except for breeding.  With all that useless hair upside his head, he throws off the hunt by announcing his presence.  It's pretty much the lionesses -- basically one woman and her sisters -- bringing down the zebra and antelope and whatnot.

That's nature for real.  Ask the lionesses, or a female bear, for that matter.

What disturbs me more is the idea of men talking heads criticizing women for doing what they need to do, in the words of the Beverly Hillbillies theme song, " to keep their families fed."  In a perfect world, men and women (or women and women or men and men) would share equally in the money earning and cooking and cleaning, etc.  We women didn't make this imperfect world; we're just trying to make it better.  Truth be told, what else could be expected once women started graduating college and entering graduate and professional programs in numbers equal to or exceeding the numbers of men?  Did you expect women to not maximize our earning potential when many of us have student loan debt to service in addition to feeding families? 

Instead of criticizing these women who are primary breadwinners, or bemoaning the demise of society, we need to applaud these women for stepping up and handling their business.  If they were on welfare and staying at home with their kids, haters and Fox News talking heads would still be criticizing them. 

In nature, if you want to eat, you're better off relying on a woman.  That's nature for real.

Here's to the lionesses.