Why is it that after all the work feminists have done it’s still thought that it should be women who give up their jobs to be stay-at-home parents while the men go to work? Here’s why: motherhood is the unfinished work of feminism.
After all that feminism has done, it still has so much to do in the way of motherhood. Why is it even still called “motherhood”? Why not “parenthood”? Why not “parenting” or “fathering” instead of “mothering”? All the terms focusing around being a parent are feminine, even though parenting is a two-way road.
The majority of child care and rearing seems to fall to women, while men can get away with contributing less because they have to go to work. Why is it not the other way around, or even shared 50/50?
When my mom had me, she gave up her career in journalism; it was never even considered that it would be my dad who gave up his job. That’s the problem. When women in the workforce have a child, they are expected to go on maternity leave, or give up their jobs altogether, but that expectation isn’t held for men.
Women leave their jobs to take maternity leave; when they come back, they don’t always get the position they were previously in, and they don’t always get promoted. It appears that employers are punishing women for having children.
I’ve been told by a middle-aged guy who works full time, doesn’t have kids, and who was raised by a stay-at-home mom that I could never have the job I wanted while having a husband who works and still be a good parent. This shocked and angered me.
First off, with today’s economy, it’s usually necessary for both parents to work. Secondly, who has the right to tell me that I wouldn’t be a good parent if I worked?
This is the problem. It has become a societal norm for mothers to give up everything for their children and be punished in the workplace because of it. And it needs to change.