I consider myself pretty lucky that I come from a long line of strong women, I guess in this case you could call them mean girls. I work in the construction industry and intimidate most of the men I work with. I find this very amusing, since most of them stand a good 6"-12" taller than I do and outweigh me by at least 100lbs. However, by performing my job well, gives all of us a chance to make more money, so most appreciate what I do.
Usually I agree with you Chickened, but on this one I've got to disagree. There are three girls in my generation and we were all raised to be mean girls. I am the only one of the three who actually lives the lifestyle and I'm the happiest. I am the youngest of the entire family and was the first to be married, at 19, and the only one of the three girls to still be married, almost 16 years later. I've seen many "nice girls" who think that being nice is all it will take to get a man and keep him, only to be mistreated and dumped for someone more interesting. Perhaps what men want, changes with each generation. I've made it a point in my marriage to always keep my husband on his toes, make sure he never gets bored and never let myself go. Poor man, I'm the whirlwind that blew into his life and hasn't stopped. Sometimes he's not sure where he is or how he got there, but he's happy and never, ever bored. There is very little that DH needs or wants, that I haven't managed to figure out how to obtain or accomplish, but on the other hand, he does the same for me. That's what's important in a relationship - doing things because you want to, not because you believe you have to.
I respect homemakers, but there are far less homemakers in my opinion, than those who call themselves homemakers. For example, I respect those that actually raise and teach their children at home. When my girls were little, I was a horrible teacher, therefore, I worked. I've met many "homemakers" who lived what I consider to be a vacation. People who did not understand why I played Unsympathetic on my invisible violin, after whining about their day to me, which was the equivalent to what I did after working a full day.