Work and Life
There's something I've been uncomfortable about for very long.
When people talk about a working woman who has children, the first concern that comes up is always: How does she balance work and life? How does she work while taking care of the children? But when people talk about a working man who also has children, those same questions are never raised. Why is it that it is only women who have this special obligation to "take care of the children", in addition to all the other things she has going on in her life? Aren't men parents too?
The right to work for one's living is definitely a precious and important right. But are we turning this into a burden instead? When we talk about liberating women by encouraging them to join the workforce, are we actually creating additional burdens for them? We expect women to work and yet at the same time remain the traditional dutiful wife and mother. This is an abuse of the notion of feminism, independence and liberation.
We should not be surprised, given this state of affairs, that women nowadays are still hesitant to join the workforce. The notion of having to juggle two jobs, that of a working woman and a mother or housewife, is understandably intimidating to the average woman. What of independence and feminism then? Of course, women can and should still be encouraged to work. However, this encouragement should be framed in a different way. Instead of putting the onus upon women to handle both work and life, and asking nothing of men, we should be asking ourselves how parents can fairly apportion the burden of childcare between themselves.
The next time I hear about a successful, high-flying woman, I don't want to hear about what a great mother or wife she is at the same time. That is irrelevant to me in analysing her career. Why should women continually be defined by their capacity in those roles? The focus should be on her successes at work. The focus would undoubtedly be solely work-related if the person in question were a man. He may be a great father and loving husband, but if we're talking about what a good businessman or lawyer or teacher he is, we're hardly interested in those things.
By bringing up how a woman is a great mother or wife in a discussion about her successful career, we're actually dismissing her work achievements. We're impliedly saying that it's not enough that a woman can close multi-million deals, conduct groundbreaking research, or write best-selling books. It's not enough, because she also has to be a great mother or wife at the same time. That, of course, is completely ridiculous. We shouldn't have to be great mothers and wives to be respected for our achievements in work. We should just have to be awesome at what we do.
What I've just said is basically common sense and logic. What pains me is that I actually have to say it.
When people talk about a working woman who has children, the first concern that comes up is always: How does she balance work and life? How does she work while taking care of the children? But when people talk about a working man who also has children, those same questions are never raised. Why is it that it is only women who have this special obligation to "take care of the children", in addition to all the other things she has going on in her life? Aren't men parents too?
The right to work for one's living is definitely a precious and important right. But are we turning this into a burden instead? When we talk about liberating women by encouraging them to join the workforce, are we actually creating additional burdens for them? We expect women to work and yet at the same time remain the traditional dutiful wife and mother. This is an abuse of the notion of feminism, independence and liberation.
We should not be surprised, given this state of affairs, that women nowadays are still hesitant to join the workforce. The notion of having to juggle two jobs, that of a working woman and a mother or housewife, is understandably intimidating to the average woman. What of independence and feminism then? Of course, women can and should still be encouraged to work. However, this encouragement should be framed in a different way. Instead of putting the onus upon women to handle both work and life, and asking nothing of men, we should be asking ourselves how parents can fairly apportion the burden of childcare between themselves.
The next time I hear about a successful, high-flying woman, I don't want to hear about what a great mother or wife she is at the same time. That is irrelevant to me in analysing her career. Why should women continually be defined by their capacity in those roles? The focus should be on her successes at work. The focus would undoubtedly be solely work-related if the person in question were a man. He may be a great father and loving husband, but if we're talking about what a good businessman or lawyer or teacher he is, we're hardly interested in those things.
By bringing up how a woman is a great mother or wife in a discussion about her successful career, we're actually dismissing her work achievements. We're impliedly saying that it's not enough that a woman can close multi-million deals, conduct groundbreaking research, or write best-selling books. It's not enough, because she also has to be a great mother or wife at the same time. That, of course, is completely ridiculous. We shouldn't have to be great mothers and wives to be respected for our achievements in work. We should just have to be awesome at what we do.
What I've just said is basically common sense and logic. What pains me is that I actually have to say it.