Feminism, Childcare, and the Workplace

[bestdaywelived]

Feminists have many different perspectives on child-raising and motherhood - some of us want it, and some of us don't. Some of us want full-time careers, some of us want part-time careers, and some of us don't want to have a career and would rather stay home. In short - we're different and have different wants/needs. I worry that the workforce at

Comments

[delphyne_]

Men taking on their fair share of childcare?

After all most children have two parents (even if they aren't together) not one.

[bestdaywelived]

I know - but it's very rarely a 50/50 split.

[delphyne_]

It would still be the solution. When women went into the workforce in larger numbers the corollary to that was that men would undertake their fair share in the home. It still hasn't happened.

[chreebomb]

or partners in same-sex relationships. but then again, same-sex couples tend to vary in their gender roles and duties from straight couples.

[chreebomb]

well, i can't see it changing until there's a fundamental shift toward equality, period. you know? i mean, it's still true that most women have children and most women are left with most of the responsibility for child-rearing

[dragovianknight]

i believe the answer is to provide parental rights to employees.

I would rather see something that didn't specifically exclude the childfree from the benefits (not that I think you specifically were intending that). We still have families, even if those families aren't children, and may be taking care of parents/spouses/adult siblings. I think most employees would benefit from some sort of flex time that would allow them to take care of emergencies.

Word about the mixed messages on motherhood.

[chreebomb]

yes, i completely agree with you about family/children. i know caring for aging parents is a real concern.

[bestdaywelived]

I think more generalized "personal/family" time would be ideal for men and women alike. As a non-childed person who never wants to be a mother, I feel completely lost in the system of feminism vs. the workplace.

[janiee]

i see one sure fire answer to that,
the death of stereotypes
the death of me vs you, us vs them
thinking.

i don't think that problem
applies only to women.
it seems more a human condition
that rolls from all aspects of life
due to a largely ecocentric thought
pattern.

every one thinks their problems
are the heaviest in the world,
in reality some one always has it
worse than we do, but we forget that.

if we started worrying more about
lifting each other, and seeing each
other as sisters and brothers
walking hand in hand towards a goal
of harmony i just think it would
dissapate a large amount of the
world view of separation.

[krazyhippie]

Can I ask why you hit the enter key at random periods throughout your comments? Just curious. It makes them choppier to try to read.

[fooltheworld]

I read it like a poem. :) Probably not the desired effect...

[everwatcher]

It can be quite difficult or otherwise unappealing to suppress the poetic urge. (I've always preferred rhyme for my poems.)

[sophandros]

It will cost a little more, but how about more family friendly work environments, including but not limited to telecommuting?

Other ideas are on-site daycare and other options which allow for the children to be there with their parents as their parents work.

[judith]

I agree with this approach. I feel that workplaces have to stop being unrealistic about people's lives. We don't and can't leave the rest of our lives at the door when we walk into work. That doesn't just apply to people with children. We need to find better ways to meld work with the rest of our lives and have it be okay. Interestingly, the companies that are more generous with their employees tend to get better work from them, but this is a concept lost on most corporations.

[judith]

Employers are prohibited by law from asking about marital status and children. So it more than sucks when that happens. In all of my job interviews I have been careful not to mention my marital or child status and have never been asked.

[judith]

Certainly so. But I was responding to the comment specifically, that it sucks when they ask. In the U.S. they should not be asking.

[redindigo]

are they prohibited in the US or all over the world?

*roger that, 10-4, -centric police over and out.*