I know the bleak image of the oppressed handmaid, trodden on by her husband, and squashed beneath the iron tracks of patriarchy, is an alluring and lasting image of womanhood – but it is not an accurate one. It is not accurate, nor is this image in any way ‘empowering’ of women. Because the truth is, over the past fifty years, women of the west have achieved remarkable, and well deserved advances within the workplace. Now the owners of 30% of all private businesses in America, and the primary breadwinner in 40% of all U.S. households, the incomplete journey of women’s financial autonomy is an ongoing saga of success, not failure. But you will likely hear none of this. As the outrageous narrative of woe-is-me perpetual victimhood is something on which fortunes, and vast social media followings, can still be made. There’s another thing that has not changed with the times. Alimony. Alimony is the name given to court ordered payments, made to a former spouse, after a separation or divorce – distinct from child support. It began, quite literally, thousands of years ago, in recognition of a time when women really were financially dependent on men, and really did need such payments to live an autonomous life, after separation. Thankfully, such oppressive times are a thing of the past. But alimony has not been consigned to the history books, and men still make up 97% of those paying it. And guess which organisations are standing in the way of it being scrapped? Yes. The National Organisation for Women, the largest feminist organisation in America, are at it again. Yet more egg on the face of our so called gender equality advocates, who continue to demand equal rights for women, but without accepting the mantle of equal responsibility that goes with it. So, is it time we recognised the full might and success of women’s financial autonomy? Is it time we spoke proudly of our women, and what they have achieved? Is it time we reformed, or perhaps abandoned alimony altogether? ~ Pay Gap The Financial Concerns of Women Women of Wealth Alimony

2024-04-22