Procreating Working Women Are Greedy?
Mia Freedman (Australian magazine Madame, ex-editor of Cosmo and Dolly) raised an interesting – and infuriating – idea on her blog recently. The idea? Women who want to work and procreate are becoming greedy. They want all the benefits of having a job (say, a sense of self-satisfaction and an income) as well as the joys that come with motherhood. They want to have their children’s cake, but take it into the office to eat, too.
While I personally find it mildly mind-boggling to try and argue from this perspective, UK Vogue editor Alexandra Shulman wrote a piece that says this trend is too difficult on employers.
And yet, I remain unconvinced.
Despite the fact that these arguments don’t address the role of a father (or other partner) as part of the parenting unit, there’s this little thing called equality. You cannot discriminate against a woman because of her gender, and part of being a woman means that you have a more time-consuming role in reproduction. It’s a part of life. But that doesn’t mean that women should be excluded from the other joys of life. Say, pursuing independence and a career they find rewarding.
Thoughts, anyone?
Isn’t Mia a working mum? She might be lucky enough to work from home for the most part, but she still earns a living at the same time as raising her children.
I also don’t see why (many) employers would have to experience such “difficulties”. While there are many occupations that don’t lend themselves to telecommuting, those industries that can accommodate work-from-home employees should definitely consider it – and not just for working mums. This would reduce strain on the childcare industry, and I won’t even start on the environmental and financial benefits of allowing people to work from home.
I think the whole idea that all employees need to work full-time (and over) in order to get the work done is nonsense in the first place. We spend so much time dicking around in the office. If the right amount of efficient people are employed and there’s a reasonable level of communication amongst staff I don’t see any reason why most people can’t have flexitime, part-time work and extended time off. The public service has managed to do it (long-service leave, anyone?) and the community sector (who can’t afford to hire full-time staff), which both still work as far as I can tell. I think employers need to stop taking their workplaces so fucking seriously and remember people have lives outside of work!
What a load of codswoddle! no one should be labeled ‘greedy’ for wanting the fullest and best life they can lead and for some people this means a fulfilling job/career and a happy home for others one or the other.
What about the argument that some women don’t have a choice, single mums or people with less than helpful partners. My mother raised 4 kids and worked full time and if any thing it has taught me the value of hard work and a drive to go out and work hard for what you want. It also taught me independence.
I have 2 little girls 4 and 18mths and am looking for part time work, i have my own clothing label and I help out on Lip….I have a great relationship with my kids and hubby because i am able to do what i need to make me feel fulfilled and happy. I think i am setting a good example for my kids if you work hard you can and should be able to have what you want.
And to all you employers out there mums are super women and if they coming looking for a job they should be at the top of your list mother are with out choice i might add:
multi-taskers
referees
cooks
cleaners
tutors
organized
and most of all need a job to either to look after or get away from there kids! lol
For many many mothers it is necessity not greed that drives them back to work. Why do mothers cry when they first leave their children in childcare. It’s hard! It’s hard being a full time Mum, it’s hard not having time for meaningful adult interactions and hard to make ends meet. It’s also hard juggling commitments and priorities to go back to work. Everyone does their best and makes the choices they have to make but I think the percentage of mothers who work out of ‘greed’ would be very small. Mothers seem to be fair game when it comes to judging others because of the emotive issues involved. Mothers always work hard, sometimes they get paid for some of it.
I think the main question posed here is: Are women of child-baring age unemployable? This is not a new issue but one that has been around for a very long time. The main difference is that women have been the ones paying the price of population grouth with their careers, economic independence and job satisfaction. Now is the employer’s turn.
If society values its population numbers, then it has to invest on it. Further, maternity leave not only pays for the children per se, but also for the “services” provided by mothers in raising productive and well-adjusted children: the future tax payers. If you argue the issue in pure economic terms, it makes sense to pay for maternity leave.
However, the most worrying issue is that women in influential positions (e.g. Alexandra Shulman) are expressing these unhelpful views and giving ammunition to the skeptics of the maternity leave word. Although Alexandra is entitled to her opinion, my impression is that hers is a minority view. The role of journalists and commentators like Mia is to make sure that it is crystal clear that these views are the minority and not give equal weight to them in the overall argument. Otherwise we may end up in a similar situation to that of the climate change debate when only about 4% of the world scientists are giving the impression that there are any doubts about the issue.