My father would say you don't talk about sex, money, religion or politics. As soon as he died, that's all I've talked about: sex, money, religion and politics.

"I was raised where women were held in high esteem for what they did inside the home. I've always felt that the woman was at the hub; and that the success of her children and her husband is in large part related to how empowered or how fulfilled a woman is.

"When I was a girl, I thought I'd get married four days after my last final, and I'd do what I was told! So I did. Twenty years old, and I got married four days after my last final. I think that if I had graduated college at twenty-two, like most people, if I hadn't rushed through, I would have been on the other side of the women's movement and I would have gone for a graduate degree, and life would have been very different.

"If you were to say, where is the tension between a mother and a daughter? I would say: I always thought if you don't expect anything, you don't get hurt. And my mother would always say if you don't expect anything, you don't get anything. So I think that's always been the tension, and at this age, I guess she's right. Maybe I'm right too.

How to Cite This Page
For a bibliography: Jewish Women's Archive. "Jewish Women's Archive - Women Who Dared - Madalyn Schenk on TRADITIONAL ROLES." <http://jwa.org/exhibits/wwd/jsp/fullAnswer.jsp>.

For a footnote: Jewish Women's Archive, "Jewish Women's Archive - Women Who Dared - Madalyn Schenk on TRADITIONAL ROLES," <http://jwa.org/exhibits/wwd/jsp/fullAnswer.jsp>.