Walton’s author and psychologist proud to be a feminist

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Steven Walker is proud to be a feminist.

He is happy to do the housework and share the care of his daughter.

Steven, psychologist and author, 67, from Walton, is proud to be making his way home.

His mother taught him to knit when he was seven, and by thirteen he was already cooking family meals.

Having worked as a social worker for over ten years, he has witnessed brutal cases of women trapped inside with abusive husbands, which fueled his passion for feminism.

He said: “These women had no education, no financial independence and no way to escape violent and cruel men.

“I often had to save women and take them to women’s shelters where they could mentally recover and rebuild their shattered lives.

“Their children have been mentally marked for life by what they have seen men do. ”

Steven’s grandmother, Florence Walker, was a suffragist and his mother, Mary Walker, worked outside the home.

But despite living in a time when women were meant to be stay-at-home moms, Steven remembers his father James Walker and grandfather Robert Walker supporting their wives.

He said: “My grandfather was a gentleman and my father was also silent.

“They have always respected them.

Steven thinks there is still a big misunderstanding when it comes to the word feminism, with feminist ideas sometimes being distorted and presented as “hating man.”

He added: “Fortunately, this encouraged the men to choose to be stay-at-home parents and the women to have a full-time career or, in the case of my wife and I, to share the care of our daughter and both. work part-time.

“In this case, I do all the cooking and most of the housework and help take care of my frail elderly mother-in-law when she needed to take care of the house.”

Steven and his wife Isobel Walker, 63, have been married for 29 years.

He said his decision to help around the home always left people confused, especially at social gatherings where everyone expects his wife to cook the meal.

He added, “Some of the people we know are surprised when I cook the meal. If we have someone at home, the assumption is that my wife cooked but it’s actually me.

“I notice that some people react but don’t say anything.

“When we go to dinner with other people, it’s mostly the woman who cooks. ”

Steven, who is now a part-time psychology professor at the University of Essex, also shared custody of his daughter Rose Walker, 28.

She proudly walks in her father’s footsteps now and was even elected President of the Feminist Society while at the Royal Holloway.

Steven said: “My wife needed to work and be independent and I also wanted to be more than a part-time dad.

“I wanted to be there as long as possible for my daughter, so we both got half a week of work each.

“It was still unusual in 1993, when my daughter was born, for men and women to do what we did with my wife. ”

As part of their “deal,” Steven and his wife, who was once a nurse, still share the household workload.

He loves to cook and Isobel enjoys gardening and doing laundry.

Steven added: “We know that women are unhappy and don’t feel fulfilled if they are just looking after their children.

“They would like to be much more actively involved in their careers and their work.

“But there are also women who are perfectly happy to take care of children.

“It’s about whether women have a choice and I don’t think they have much to realize their potential.”

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