For hundreds of years, mothers have been given the job status of being the homemaker and providing care for their children. Many definitions of a mother specifically include the words, “caring for a child”. While this statement remains true, many would argue that the definition of motherhood should be changed. Now, in the 21st century, mothers can be found in all parts of life, whether at home or at work. The status of a mother has created so much controversy between stay at home moms and working moms. In fact, the tensions have gone so far as to be entitled the “Mommy Wars”. Working moms, specifically, have had to deal with judgement and hardship because of their decision to work. The term “Mommy Wars” has been around for years, …show more content…
Working moms and stay at home moms will frequently make judgmental and harsh statements and will not associate with each other. Masters calls these two groups “alienated groups”(Masters). While most moms in the United States hold some sort of part time job, stay at home moms tend to have the loudest voice in society. These women particularly get called out on being quick to judge the choices of working moms. Although many people have accepted the idea of equality for women and their rights, they still put pressure and guilt on these mothers who are found in the workfield (). For example, in a MOM vs MOM Survey Report in 2000 it said, “65% of stay at home moms claim that working moms do not understand that raising a child is more important than maintaining a lifestyle” (). This same group of moms who were surveyed also called working moms “selfish and materialistic” and that they feel they put their own welfare before the well-being of their children. Stay at home mother Sherri Stamper of New Whiteland, Indiana said the following statement: “All of the working moms I know freely admit that they do it for material things. They know they 're doing a disservice to their children, but they can 't stand to scale back their lifestyle". Another stay at home mom, Renee Portolese of Maysville, North Carolina, has no plans to return to the workforce if she has more babies. "Now that I 'm home …show more content…
It is safe to say that children are affected by the status of their mother. In a 2013 survey it was found that while the public recognizes the clear economic benefits of having more mothers in the workplace, many are voicing concerns about the toll this is having on children. “Roughly two-thirds of adults (67%) say the increasing number of women working for pay outside the home has made it easier for families to earn enough to live comfortably. But at the same time, 74% say this trend has made it harder for parents to raise children”(Cohn). While many think working mothers affect children in a negative way, Maggie Fox of NBC News shows in a survey that this has changed. In her article it says, “Asked what the ideal situation is for young children, the share of Americans who say having a mother who does not work outside the home is ideal has declined since a 2009 Pew Research Center survey, when 43% said so, to 2012, when 33% did. A plurality (42%) in 2012 said having a mother who works part time is ideal for young children, while 16% said a full-time working mother is
(651) She disagrees because a working mother is not a threat. She said it teaches her kids to understand that women could also work outside of home.
A debate has been raging for years over the necessity for, mother’s duties, which has been so much so that it is termed “Mommy Wars”. The core of “Mommy Wars” is about mothers should wave rights of studying and working to take care of children at home and be a housewife. Traditionally, mothers must be a full-time mother when they raise a baby. However, by the development of society and the movements for women’s rights, this issue has been increasingly a hot topic for the discussion. For this reason, Louise Story interviewed students and faculties at Yale University.
In this landmark study, sociologist Arlie Hochschild takes us into the homes of the working mother as she observes what really goes on at the end of a work day. She did extensive research on married women with children under the age of 6 and Surprisingly, what she discovered shocked us all, Hochschild found that Working mothers leave work only to come home and do more work. Hochschild coined this term as the second shift as she described the work that mothers do at home as a second job where the various needs of the home overpowers the working mother. She addresses the second shift typically as child rearing and housework that usually falls on the shoulders of the women. Hochschild does a great job of going against the
In today’s society, many people look at stay-at-home moms as being lazy or irresponsible, but in the article, “Confessions of a Stay-at-Home Mom,” Ashley Nelson states many different reasons why being a stay-at-home mother isn’t so bad. Staying at home with children makes families closer together and they get along more. People in society argue that mothers need to work instead of spending time with their children. In, “Confessions of a Stay-at-Home Mom,” Nelson claims that being a mother is stressful, that mothers are being discriminated and treated differently, and that they are given too many extra hours at work. I agree with Nelson that being a mother is hard, they are discriminated, and that they are given too many hours at work because having children and a job is tough, many people believe mothers can’t have a job and a child at the same time, and having a child means they need more hours at home to bond and take care of their children.
At times jobs are keeping parents away from families. In the articles,” Double Daddy”, by Penny Parker,” Diary of a Mad Blender”, by Sue Shellenburger, and The Childs view of Working Parents” by Cora Daniels and Ellen Galinksy, the writers informs us that parents struggle to balance the responsibilities of work and families. While integrating time to an efficient expense of equality time spent with family, through goals, obligations and priorities. The main thing that all 3 of the authors revels is priorities/struggles, goals, and balancing responsibilities. Balancing responsibilities, goals, and a personal life is a struggle for many people, but the most important priorities in life, such as family, should not be neglected.
Luckily, because of the feminist movement in the 60’s, our society is more accepting of the different choices women make. There still is the pressure to be a supermom, but it is perfectly acceptable to be a working mom as well, or not be a mom at all and just focus on careers. One just must be able to handle the consequences that come with their decisions.
Stone (2007) conducted “extensive, in depth interviews with 54 women in a variety of professions-law, medicine, business, publishing, management consulting, nonprofit administration, and the like- living in major metropolitan areas across the country, half of them in their 30’s, half in their 40’s” (p. 15). Keep in mind these women Stone (2007) focuses on are “highly educated, affluent, mostly white, married women with children who had previously worked as professionals or managers whose husbands could support their being at home” (p. 14). Her findings revealed women are strongly influenced by two factors: workplace push and motherhood pull. “Many workplaces claimed to be “family friendly” and offered a variety of supports. But for women who could take advantage of them, flexible work schedules (which usually meant working part time) carried significant penalties” (Stone, 2007, p. 16). This quote represents the workplace push, where women are feeling encouraged to continue their rigorous careers with little to no family flexibility being offered from workplaces. The motherhood pull is a term used to describe the way mothers feel when they face the pressure of staying home to raise their children while still expected to maintain a steady job. “Motherhood influenced women 's decision to quit as they came to see the rhythms and
“The logic of intensive mothering, particularly as it applies to middle- and upper-middle-class mothers, therefore seems to be the greatest barrier to solving the problems detailed in this book….Nearly all mothers, for instance, feel they ought to be at home with their children, ought to want to be at home with their children, and ought to be their children’s primary parent.” Pg. 201 This quote from Untangling the Mother-Nanny Knot emphasizes on the fact that these working mothers need to let go a of that temperament that they must keep the nanny, their spouse and anyone else away from their child at any cost. Because they are not able to be there for their kids they can rest their mind knowing that the person with their child when they are not present is someone that will love them and care for them no matter what, and all the working mother must do is let go just a
In her essay, “Motherhood: Who Needs It?”, Betty Rollin emphasizes the pressures of motherhood that society puts on women and highlights the fact that becoming a mother is not a natural instinct.
Women have persistently been challenged with issues regarding what it means to be a ‘good mother’. Although times continue to change, issues confronting 21st century mothers, remain similar to the ones addressed in past generations. An abundance of mothers in the 21st century are still faced with the complex issue regarding the ‘stay-at-home mom’ stereotype, in spite of the fact that the feminist movement has provided women with more rights in the present-day, then ever before. However, while strides have been made, these changes have had an affect on society’s notion of motherhood. The portrayal of motherhood is determined by countless expectations in which society has established. Such expectancies have expanded, which now effect how motherhood is depicted in different cultures. As a whole the feminist movement has strongly influenced Western Society, which has resulted in women’s suffrage, the right to make individual decisions, and has also led to wide-ranging employment for women at more equivalent wages. However, the emergence of female employment has created a war between ‘stay-at-home’ and ‘working’ mothers, which is often referred to as ‘Mommy Wars’. In addition, female employment provides men with the opportunity to stay at home and become the primary caregiver, which has ultimately had a large impact on societies notion of motherhood, treating them differently than primary caregivers of the opposite gender. This paper will examine how the feminist movement has altered societies notion of motherhood in the 21st century in comparison to past generations as a result of working mothers and stay at home fathers.
Change in work patterns more mothers are part of the working force making households where both parents are working
About 75 percent of the 68 million women working in the United States will become pregnant at some point in their careers. Women with children are one of the fastest growing segments of the U.S. labor force. In 1975, 47% of women with children under the age of 18 were employed; by 2008, this number grew to a notable 71% (Miner et al. 60). Compared to other workers, mothers are often viewed as less competent, less productive, and less committed to their job, which is assumed to result in increased absenteeism and resignation (Byron and Roscigno 5). Also, employers may doubt a mother’s ability to balance their work and home lives (Nunenmacher and Schnepf 172). A study conducted by Shelley Correll, Stephen Benard, and In Paik found that mothers were 79% less likely to be hired, 50% less likely to be promoted, and offered $11,000 less in salary than identical women without children. In the study, the subjects revealed that they assumed the mothers to be inherently less competent and less committed (Williams and Cuddy 96). Given these statistics, discrimination against mothers is one of the strongest forms of gender bias.
One of the issues that parents are dealing with is money. They believe that they can’t have a stay at home parent, because they wouldn’t be able to live off of one parent’s salary. However what many people don’t know that the value of a stay a home parent is a lot more than one would imagine. According to Barbara Sefton, “The stay-at-home mother is on duty an average of 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. She provides a service with a market value of approximately $36,000 annually.” This is more than some individual salaries. Most do not realize how much work a stay a stay at home mom does, from c...
Regardless of where they are in their careers, working mothers have a tough time achieving balance between work and family. Generally, women take on or are given more responsibility for their homes than are men, leading to frustration and exhaustion. In this paper we will address some of the issues involved in balancing career and family. This paper will provide some solutions for the most common problems arising from todays busy schedules, and provide some insight on how to make the most of your time.
Men and women are working harder than ever to survive in today's tough economy. It's a big challenge for low and middle class families to survive. To meet growing demands, it's getting difficult for families to depend on one income. To contribute to family income, mothers are coming forward and joining the workforce. Working mothers are the one who takes care of the family and work outside the home. They may be a single mothers or married mothers. Working mothers usually work to support their family financially. Some of the mothers work, just because they are more career-oriented. Working mothers may work part time or full time. Women are now the primary or only income source for 40% of US households with kids, according to a new Pew survey (Wang, Parker and Taylor, ch. 1). They play a major role in raising their family and doing household chores. There are many reasons that why mothers should work.