To work or not to work? Just when you thought the Mommy wars were over, they’re back in full force. There are so many factors sparking the age-old issue these days. Most recently, the debate erupted nationally when Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen said likely Republican Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney’s wife, who raised five sons, had “never worked a day in her life.”
The comment reignited a mom-culture war that dates back to Hillary Clinton’s 1992 remark that instead of working as a lawyer, she “could have stayed home and baked cookies.” Unfortunately this debate is like a hamster running on a wheel. Since the global recession in 2008, family choice has all but disappeared.
What a great time it must have been in America when you had such freedoms to decide. Should you work or stay home? Who will bring home the bacon and who will fry it in a pan? The mere fact that leaders even engage in such a debate just proves the real disconnect between the people and it’s government.
Today, it’s the Hybrid mother who dominates. We work, we raise children, we share, or are responsible for, all financial matters, and we telecommute. We are strategic and don’t take flak from anyone.
So now the debate has swayed into who works from home and raises kids and who works out of the home and still raises kids. It’s a debate worth analysing, not because of self-interest, but because it’s the new American way.
Since the recession, more women have entered the workforce. Recent census figures show 47 percent of mothers with children under 18 works full or part time. With so many spouses unemployed, it takes two, in most cases, to support the home. Rather than judge who receives a pay check and who doesn’t, aren’t we skirting the real issue? For the former first lady to equate baking cookies to being a lawyer is disappointing.
Let’s not forget about the single mom who also conducts all of her professional and personal affairs. She’s doing the same thing only instead of sharing the financial responsibility; she’s the baker and the breadwinner. I personally doubt baking cookies is at the front of Clinton’s mind. However, if she’s like me, she will do it anyway once her job has concluded for the day. Because of mass unemployment, we, as women, are held at a much higher standard than our counterparts. Women are under fire, under estimated, and are fighting to prove themselves more than ever.
For example, you hear all the time that so and so got the job because the boss likes her. How about she got the job because she deserves it. Isn’t the competitive marketplace already cut throat enough? Furthermore, should we really take up prime airtime to attack this subject? Isn’t this a dying debate in 2012?
The hybrid woman is fluid, though she carries a degree of guilt for multitasking between work and home. Most, if not all, psychologists say mothers feel guilty about their decision to work. Aren’t we already fighting enough? Why do we find it so easy to judge and debate over a topic that clearly very few find themselves?
The mother that stays at home, free-lances, and watches her child vs. the mother who uses day-care and commutes daily is semantics. This is what people should be debating. They should not be casting political stones, as Rosen did in attacking Ann Romney. Rather than jockey about who’s more politically correct, why don’t we try and build each other up. Why can’t we find pride in each other’s accomplishments? In other words, lets get it together ladies and stop skirt tailing to find something in the gutter for political gain (it backfired in Rosen’s case, and she was forced to back off by the Democratic elite). Let’s support one another.
