Young Women Choosing Careers over Love

Woman has to be inspiration to a man for achieving liberation of himself.
Everything else is dead end.

Ina Matijevic

I could feel that this has become a trend in Asia as well. In the past, most men here were the better educated ones and were expected by society to support the family - thus a career to them is very important.

Now there isn't much difference between what men and women could do at the job market, both have equal opportunities to a good education and both contribute to the family expenses. In a society where dual-income families IS a norm, a family with just a sole bread winner might not be able to enjoy a "decent" standard of living.

Take Hong Kong for example, it takes a married couple to work and contribute to the family expenses together in order to be able to afford any mortgage for a home. Furthermore, it is too risky to depend on one income producer alone. Thus women are aware of the importance of a career, and maybe, when "pushed" to make a decision, the head rules over the heart! Career is important whether you're a man or a woman. Ultimately, one has to be responsible for one's own standard of living and also one's own retirement needs.

Lynda Shen

Interesting that you would bring this up, Mr. Trump. Hailing from the mid-west, I was raised to believe that my main purpose in life was to lend support to my man, and help him with his career, first and foremost. Then, I moved to the east coast... Big wake-up call! Hello! I tried in vain to find that guy who would appreciate my old-fashioned values, to no avail. Went back to the mid-west, and realized that I knew too much to just live as someone's cheerleader. I'm back on the east coast, now, and what I realize is this... in today's world, as a woman, you are expected to compete with men on their level. Even as much as I hate it, because I would rather live the fairytale of being a man's other half, I understand that I have no choice. We, as women, have been forced to "think like men" in order to survive. I don't like it, actually... but, I am good at it, so I may as well make my knowledge work for me - or be dismissed & looked over. I would have been the perfect wife in the 50's. Thanks for nothin' Gloria Steinem. Did we really have to go that far... I mean, voting is one thing, but, actually morphing into being men - not appealing to me, at all. I hate competing with men! But, men are no longer the men of old, so they are not receptive to females who actually behave like females. A woman is seen as weak if she doesn't act like a witch. Did it ever occur to anyone that some women are really that nice and maternal?
People feel compelled to work so much because they want more and more stuff...new stuff, better stuff. And, of course, with everyone working and buying stuff, the economy doesn't go bust.
Wish me luck in this "Man's World" - where men are women, and women are men, and gender has nothing to do with anything. It's all about brain development. Traditions mean nothing to anyone anymore. In some cases, that is fine, as some traditions are hurtful to some people. It's just all so mixed up and chaotic, now. This is truly the dog-eat-dog, sink or swim, figure it out for yourself because nobody is going to rescue you... generation.
How many women are out on the front-lines? Oh...not that many. Why not? Women want to do everything that men do. Guess women don't want to do EVERYTHING that men do, do we? Just watch "Dirty Jobs" with Mike Rowe... not very many women performing those tasks. Hmpf.

My sister did that a generation ago. Had no children, put the career first and such. Either way a relationship needs balance, if one person is doing all the work the team is doomed for failure. Likewise a mother's work is never done. Regardless I can only feel sympathy for her now. To not procreate is an amazing component of life one should not miss and yet population controls want otherwise.

I always viewed having a husband as having another child either way the woman minds someone in this equation. Sad but true I also consider the male species the runt and incomplete version of human life, born without uterus I extend nothing but sympathy to these men who balance the population with their inabilities.

In romance...the passion does get lost...if we don't pay attention. Then, we may end up in court...to end paying off child support and spousal income.

Woman need to work together as a team player in all departments with the men. And vice-versa. To find the path that fits for them as a couple and as a person.

If marriage is a permanent investment that will bring everlasting passive or residual income to a woman, I believe any woman will choose love or marriage as their lifetime career and devote all her life to this holy choice.

Unfortunately this is not the case. The sacrifice a woman makes for the sake of love seldom get rewarded as she wishes since love or passion is something intangible she can never has fully control of. Dependence - financially or emotionally or both ways always results in burden or responsibility to the other party. Is every man able to take this responsibility? The answer is NO.

What's the percentage of successful investment into love? Just look back at the last century in which great changes had taken place in the roles that men and women had played. Economic development has forced people to change. This trend will continue to be more polular - women choose careers over love.

Patience Wang
www.permacybersuccess.com

I would like to think that overall, women have more of a level playing field in their careers today. But barriers seem to exist in most every field. Even in religions where women can become priests, I understand there is a "stained glass ceiling." That is something to think about. But as we are learning on this season of Celebrity Apprentice, women can enjoy the pursuit of success every bit as much as men can.

It is possible to have both. A career is something we as women should choose, whether it be a homemaker or a CEO or anything in between. We must find what we enjoy in life and find a way to make money doing what we love. When we as women work on making ourselves happy (careers included), love will follow and it will be easier to be there for the ones we love. Your true love should support you in finding happiness, no matter what career you choose. If you sacrifice your own happiness in order to "serve" your man you only degrade yourself and may end up to resent that and him. When we concentrate on our own happiness, we in turn make others happy. I actively pursue my own career and destiny and that makes me happy. I do not choose to serve my husband, I choose to do things for him and my children because I want to bring happiness to their lives. If you are doing things for a man because you are supposed to, that is a problem.

I caught THE BIG IDEA, on CNBC tonight... Ivanka was on, and displayed a true professionalism and intelligence. She is certainly her father's daughter - very self-assured, and pleasant to watch. Ivanka has managed to play in the big leagues with the men, but she's not so full of herself that she thinks she is always right about everything. Like, "look at me! I'm so beautiful!" Or, "You have to do whatever I say because my daddy's Donald Trump." It seems like she really pays attention - doesn't miss a thing - just like her dad. Ivanka is a great example of a woman who works in a male dominated field, yet maintains her femininity. She doesn't act, at all, entitled...yet, if anyone could cop that type of attitude and get away with it, she could. The Ivanka Trump jewelry line that she has created personifies her individuality, creativity and beauty. Now, if only other women could learn from her experiences... Maybe it's time for Ivanka to pen a book like dear old dad... sharing her balancing secrets. If that chick, named after a city in France, can sell a book that she most certainly didn't "write," Ivanka certainly should. Unfortunately, so many people simply buy books for the cover - they don't actually read them. Ivanka could sell a book with a secret compartment to hide money in, and half the people wouldn't even know it because they never even open the book. Hey, she could do that in just "one" book, where, inside of that one book is a piece of jewelry or something. Don't laugh...I mean, I don't mind if you laugh... I'm amusing myself.
Thanks for the inspiration, Ivanka!

Mr. Trump, your points are well stated and conclusive as always! Your words of wisdom at the end can apply to females as well. A guy may break my heart, but my career will always be there!

For me, it is through the pain of a breakup that I bounced back to be better and more energized than ever before. Everything happens in season for a reason! To your point: As a divorced single mother, careerwoman and entrepreneur, I have learned the joy of choosing a career over love through circumstance. I am now a firm believer that if I stay focused on my own spiritual and professional success first in addition to the success of my household through wealth building, the "love of my life" will find me and have pleasure in knowing I will always be an asset and never a liability to the relationship he will pursue with me.

In the interim, until that true love finds me, I am developing and perfecting my passions in life --which are my daughter, my media career, my educational pursuits and my business. In the process of focusing on these areas, I am learning exactly how valuable my time really is and how right you are that time is money!

Toy Parker
www.livewireproductionsplus.com
Professional Writing and Media Consulting Services

The reality is, that once the majority of women started to work, couples in America needed two incomes to survive. If the family has more money, the market adjusts and it takes more money to make ends meet. A young man today is looking for a woman who can make an acceptable contribution to the family income- and with monogamy and more women than men- a man can choose a woman who makes as much or more than he does.

If a woman wants children within a marriage, then it is important for her to establish a career in her twenties- early thirties at the latest. Once her career is established, then it becomes easier to take the time to have children. Caroline Kepcher is a good example. She was already established as the person running Trump's golf courses before she married and had her first child. After the birth of her child, child care troubles required her to occasionally bring the baby to work. When Trump came over and saw it- he calmly noticed that there was a baby present, played with the child, and they went back to work. That can happen when she was in charge. But it was not likely to be possible at an entry level. And once she had other options, after her celebrity in the Apprentice, she opted to stay home with her children, knowing that it would not permanently hurt her career. She could slow down.

Men do not have that pressure. If they take until their 40's or 50's to become established, so much the better. If their wives make more money and the couple wants one parent to stay home- then the husband often feels it is better to stay home with the kids. He does not have the time pressure that his wife feels.

Women, on the other hand, do not feel the romance pressure. After all, if a woman is successful and in her 40's or 50's, there are plenty of very good looking 20-30 year old men who will find them very attractive.

So I think it is a combination of two factors: Men do not feel the time pressure for their career and find it more important to find a successful woman to contribute to the total family income. Women feel the time pressure, and so opt for the career at a younger age- but once they become successful- they may opt to take more time for family and romance later. Even among billionaires, very few are marrying women who are not successful in their own careers.

I have been on both sides of. the equation. I made more money being single with a lot less hassle. The men are needy creatures that only need you when THEY need you. Usually to do something they don't want to do themself. (Look after their children, have sex, etc.)

I adopted two dogs who were better companions.

I'm not implying that men can't love another person. But if you are looking for equality in this specialized field, be careful who you choose to love.I must admit, there are alot of things men CAN DO, that a devoted dog can't.

Now, I don't have a man to love, the dogs,or a career that makes enough money to pay all the bills. Let's see what 2008 brings. Starting over can be an adventure.

Too many women are waking up at age 45 and realizing it's too late to have their own children. There is a large segment of our population that consists of older women who are stuck living alone with no family of their own because they poured themselves into "careers."

Men can of course always marry and have children at any time, and successful men will always be able to marry young child-bearing women. But the sad fact is that older women are set aside and disregarded as far as "marriage material." Yes, I speak of personal experience. ("Bitter, party of one"). :)>

I tell younger women, don't do it. Don't let too much time go by and then it's too late to have a family. You need balance in your life. There's that old saying (I think from Dear Abby): No one's last dying words are "I should have spent more time at the office." At the end of your life, it's love and people that matter. Having met goals will matter, having made the world a better place in some way, not necessarily just with children, will matter. But working long hours in an office? Probably won't amount to much importance.

Mr. Trump,
A career without love is time wasted. A love without a career is possible. But a career WITH
love is what most people are working for. Think Big and get to share the best of BOTH.
I agree, it's all about choice!
Cheryle

Our life unfolds by the little choices we make each and every day. Our career is whatever we define it to be. Even motherhood is a career. Whether I chose to go to college immediately following high school, or gain work experience first, or start a family, and then go to school, each is a choice, but none has to limit my entire career. It just changes the direction. Check it out, lots of stay-at-home moms have actually started very successful businesses from their homes. I have an interesting book that shares great insights about the accomplishments of people at every age to 100. No matter where you find yourself, as long as you are learning and growing positively, you can be moving toward the person you were meant to be. I once read about a woman in her 90's who started a business and became a multi-millionaire.

I don't see life as an either/or. My possibilities are only as limited as my vision, and I can expand that.

In response to comments posted by Shraddha on 02/01/2008 1:07 AM ..."Yes, I speak of personal experience. ("Bitter, party of one")." Bitterness may be what is keeping you from the companionship you seek.