Women, Work, and Babies

1752 Words4 Pages

The air resounds with blasts coming from every direction. Bullets zing through the air, piercing through armor and cutting to the heart of their target. As artillery smoke clears, it is obvious that no soldier is left unscathed; wounds caked in mud are the uniform of everyone hobbling away. Few fight as fiercely as a mother defending her children and her choices for her family. The battle will resume, however, as soon as a media-fueled alarm is sounded and a talking head commands the charge. Childcare provider and news commentator Judy Lyden speaks of this on-going war as such: “Every few years, women throw emotional rocks at one another over the issue of staying at home to rear a child or going out to work leaving a child in childcare” (qtd. in “Working Women”). There will not be an end to the animosity until we realize everyone loses when we insist our own ideals and choices are the best ones for everyone. One only needs to recall the firestorm unleashed after Hilary Rosen stated (on a CNN broadcast during the 2012 presidential election coverage) that Ann Romney (a homemaker) had “never worked a day in her life” to observe the tension surrounding this issue. As evidenced in Shear and Saulny’s New York Times article, Rosen’s statement set off numerous blogs, twitter barbs, and television news sound bites on both sides of the aisle and across the parenting spectrum. While many stay-at-home moms took exception to the implication that their familial labor was, yet again, devalued and presented as out of touch with modern reality, working-class women wondered just how this housewife of privileged means could possibly relate to their struggles to make ends meet for their families and when the real issues of women’s healthcare and... ... middle of paper ... ...Karine S., and Dianna J. Shandy. Glass Ceilings and 100-Hour Couples: What the Opt-out Phenomenon Can Teach Us About Work and Family. University of Georgia Press, 2010. 114-126. Web. 10 Nov. 2013. Peskowitz, Miriam. The Truth Behind the Mommy Wars: Who Decides What Makes a Good Mother? Emeryville: Seal Press, 2005. Print Shear, Michael D., Susan Saulny. “Collision Over Roles of Women Sets Off Combative Debate Along the Trail.” The New York Times. The New York Times Company, 13 Apr. 2012: A18. Web. 1 Dec. 2013 Thompson, Ross A. “Origins of Attachment Security in Day Care and at Home: Comments on Belsky.” Child- Encyclopedia.com. Center of Excellence for Early Childhood Development and Strategic Knowledge Cluster on Early Child Development, Aug. 2010: 1-5. Web. 24 Nov. 2013 “Working Women.” Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Gale, 2013. Web. 7 Nov. 2013

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