According to a recent Google news article from The Journal News, titled “American women: less sleep means more stress means less sex,” the “National Sleep Foundation found that 60 percent of American women get insufficient sleep and thus suffer serious consequences.” The foundation conducted a survey called Sleep in America that was released on Tuesday, and it showed that “women are more likely to experience less sleep than men.”
It stated that “72 percent of working mothers and 68 percent of single-working mothers are more likely to experience symptoms of sleep problems like insomnia,” and that “87 percent watch television, 60 percent do household chores, 37 percent spend time with their children, 36 percent do activities with other family, 36 percent are on the Internet and 21 percent do work related to their job at least a few nights a week.”
But this should not be a surprised. Many women have becomes pros at multi-tasking because people like single or working mothers have to perform numerous tasks to support their families and themselves. As a result, women may become tired and stressed out.
Surveys conducted like Sleep in America show that more women are taking on more roles. Because of this, we make significant contributions and need as much help as possible to achieve in these areas.
People do not realize that women do as much, maybe even more than men. Women may perform more everyday activities, such has going to school, running errands and taking care of the house and children, while attempting to meet the high demands at work. But women get stressed out, and we’re tired.
Don’t get me wrong. I am quite sure that a lot of men out there work hard and get tired as well. But it seems that every time a woman performs a ton of duties in one day on a regular basis, we wonder, “Why is she so tired and sleepy?”
Additionally, men worry that since women are tired and have less sex, that they will have less sex. Yes, women generally have a lower sex drive than men, and men are more likely than women to have sex if they are tired. But it goes back to the old routine of women pleasing men. A man would come home from a hard day’s work, wanting dinner on the table and maybe sex that night. But if she is tired and tells her husband or boyfriend that, his response might not be a good one.
There are men who do consider their mate’s feelings, but I refer to those who just don’t care. It just seems as if the work that women do, whether it is at a professional job or as a stay-at-home mother (yes, that is a job, too. She is not paid for it, but it is a job), her responsibilities and duties performed during the day are not taken into consideration.
It’s even hard to juggle school and work. When I was the city editor of the Daily Forty-Niner last year, I worked at the paper about 20 to 25 hours a week, worked at my other job 30 hours a week and was a full-time student, with four writing classes all demanding the same type of assignments. If I think that’s tough, I could only imagine that it’s tougher for student-mothers.
But even now as the editor in chief, I work in the newsroom at least 35 to 40 hours a week, work at my other job about 30 hours a week and attend school as a part-time student. Making time for class, both jobs and family is really tough, but as a woman, juggling too many things is tiresome and exhausting.
So women need to take it a day at a time and try not to take on too many tasks. And to the men out there, help your wife, girlfriend, sister, mother or whoever with their thousands tasks and roles and we will continue to do the same for you.
Starr T. Balmer is a senior journalism major and editor in chief for the Daily Forty-Niner.
