Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Working It
Mothers and work: It's the problem with too many names. Writer Heather Hewett reviews two of the latest takes on this evergreen topic, Neil Gilbert's "A Mother's Work" and Sharon Lerner's "The War on Moms."
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4 comments:
Very, very interesting. I know in my case, I sometimes feel my husband's job's extremely family-unfriendly policies (all-nighters are for college kids, not for almost 40's) have made my choices for me; just can't imagine balancing all the parenting and chores with the pressures of work as well.
Interesting analysis! I will be sure to have a look at Lerner.
And thanks for the reminder that feminists have always been concerned with "more than paid work". It's time we all had another look at folks like Gilligan and Ruddick. Their ideas are so much of the missing piece.
Nothing irritates me more than men who try to tell women how to mother. I think that they should focus on their own parenting skills first, do 50% of the unpaid work of caring for and parenting a child and then we'll talk.
Great job pointing out the spate of books and blogs on equal parenting, getting to 50/50 parenting, co-parenting as well as the DadRevolution.
While it's difficult to learn to share parenting, I think women would be amazed at how much better this actually makes them at parenting (paradoxical though it may seem).
I would suggest that people, men and women alike, get tough and focus on what their life is really about. Ask your employer for what you want; you might get it. And this is a lot easier to do when both parents have jobs.
Amazing article. I recently held a job with our small town city library. When I told them I was pregnant, they told me I didn't qualify for FMLA (only part time position) but I could have a week. Yes, a week, and then I would have to come back to work and run the summer reading program. I bargained for two. I did finish the sumemr program but left directly after. I was so disillusioned with the attitude that our baby was a 'problem', that I lost any desire to work there. I was there for the time away and the fulfillment it gave me, not the money. I miss my job, my time with the library patrons, but I just can't get past the SIX meetings we had, just so I could have two weeks to recover. Really excellent article.
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