The Point of a Career

I have been reading about the Women's Day protests and the "Day Without a Woman" strike. It has gotten me thinking about the idea of careers as it relates to gender. The feminist movement has fought for years for women to be able to have careers and to be treated equally in the workplace. Equal treatment is important, and valuable. It begs the question that I don't hear asked often, being: why do women, and conversely why do men, have careers?

Before I get into the gender discussion it first comes down to single people vs married people. Single people MUST have careers because if they don't they end up kind of hungry. So for single people of both genders having a job is generally a good idea.

For married people it gets a little more complex (maybe). If the total income from a single partner's job in not sufficient for the maintenance of a family then both need to work. In this case it goes back to the need to eat. For families that have the ability (which is a blessing to be sure) to rely on a single income what is the point of the second income?

Let's ignore gender for a moment. Income 1 is necessary because eating. Income 2 is not necessary. So why? Well, if there are no kids in the picture income 2 might simply be a question of "I'm bored and need something to do". If there are kids then it becomes more questionable.

Ok, to quickly recap, if you are single, married with no kids, or married with kids and requiring a second income to eat, the reason for job/career is simple. Food. If you have enough income from a single parent and the other is free to make a choice and the choice is career it begs the question why?

Now that I think about it though I'm going to bring single people back into the discussion. Why what is the point of a career (over having a family for single people) for singles and for optional career spouses? Jobs don't have inherent value. You live, you work, you die. The organization you sweated for has no inherent meaning. Relationships is where meaning is found.

So really, to kind of shortcut all that I already wrote, you work to eat. You live to have relationships. If you give up relationships (and family) to work you are wasting your life. So women (and men) shouldn't rush into the workforce for the sake of career alone. There is no meaning there. Relationships with your spouse, your kids, your friends, your G-d... those are where the value is at. That is what changes things.

So regardless of who you are. Single, married, man, woman. A career should only exist to facilitate the building of relationships. If it doesn't do that don't bother.