Leech is a good word. When I got my high school alumni directory, I was completely amazed at the number of women I went to school with that are now "stay-at-home" moms. I couldn't imagine that many women were dependent on their husbands/boyfriends. Completely dependent. Not even a part-time job (granted, I got this directory before the economic downfall). I couldn't do that myself. I'm too independent to even think about letting someone control all of that stuff for me. Of course, years down the road, probably half of those women will be divorced, and slinging snot about how "my husband took everything from me, and now I have to work! Pity me, feel sorry for me, because I used to sit at home, and now I actually have to do something."

Please don't get me wrong--cleaning the house and caring for children is a full-time job in and of itself, but it's the way these women play these things off that really irks me. "Give me a bunch of free stuff because you pity me--I relied on my husband to do everything for me without any initiative, and now I can't even begin to be self-reliant." Grow up and join the real world. There are plenty of women who can and do work, and there's no reason why you can't do it. I just can't imagine anyone (man or woman) who doesn't have any type of drive to accomplish anything in their life. That would be a very pathetic existence.