Woman Between Islam and Western Society
3. Western Woman
~ 115 ~
spend more time at home, “making sure everyone is
going in the right direction,” as she put it. At age 52
she still rises at 6:30 to prepare her husband’s
breakfast and get the two sons off to school. She
smiles happily when her husband, Thomas, calls
her his “greatest asset.”
Said Lauretta: “My first priority is my family and
my husband’s work, and then I work on other
things.” She never plays bridge and only
occasionally goes to fashion shows or luncheons.
Most of her social life revolves around her
husband’s business. “Being a homemaker and
mother is very stimulating. I realize there are many
things about homemaking that are a little bit
monotonous, but a lot of things about a woman’s
career or a man’s career can be monotonous too.”
• “Why should I have children?” asked
Suzanne Sape,
23, and a happily married woman who is upward
bound in a management planning career. “I’m glad
I’m married,” Suzanne said, “and I enjoy being
feminine. I like to sew, and I was once really interested
in fashion.” But Suzanne’s bent toward homemaking
and shared joys did not extend to having children. “If I
