The New York Times recently ran a story about young women at top-notch universities who are opting to be stay at home moms. These young women who hale from universities such as Yale and Harvard, often holding high grade point averages, are just saying no to a career after marriage. And while one may say “to each his or her own,” feminists everywhere should be bothered by these women.

Feminism is about equality among both genders.

It is about women working with men to break down the patriarchal system in American society.

However, feminism is also about having choices. It seems like a valid argument for one to say that these women are just exercising their choice to be stay at home moms; what is so wrong about that?

However, women everyday, everywhere, for decades have fought for the right to not only receive a great education but to actually achieve something with it. How can these women just throw that away?

While men are traditionally known as breadwinners and women as housewives, times have changed.

Much of the reason why these women say that they will let their husbands be the primary breadwinners once married is because they feel like there is no way to balance motherhood and a career. Yet, every single day in this country, women get up and go to work and raise a great family.

What about single moms, how do they do it? What about women who do not have the luxury of marrying someone who makes enough money to support an entire family?

This is a slap in the face to women’s rights activists everywhere to say that there is just no way to raise a loving family and have a successful career all at the same time. The ignorance of these Ivy Leaguers is startling. But an even deeper question prevails here: since when is parenting the mother’s sole responsibility?

This is the twenty-first century and it is sad that there is still no paradigm shift in the way that women see themselves as baby-bearers and housewives rather than moms with careers.

When St. John’s University is considered, it is anticipated that after all the tuition, all the young men and women here will graduate and begin their careers. Just ask some of the female professors- many of them have children, and look at how successful they are. There definitely can be a balance within this society.

St. John’s is no different from Harvard or Yale in that there still are women who feel like they have to choose between motherhood and having a career. And yet, how many males on campus actually feel like they have to choose between fatherhood and a career?

A college education should not just be for the sake of earning a degree, it should be a foundation that has the power to change lives.

For all the young women out there, take this foundation and run with it. We have the power to change the world-while carrying a diaper bag.