Did Harvard MBA moms turn child-rearing into a high-pressure career?

Forty years ago, the term "stay at home mom" would have been considered redundant. Twenty years ago, "housewife" had become a dirty word and the ability to balance family and career was seen as an extension of female self-respect and empowerment. Today, some women are rejecting the 1980s-era notion of "having it all" by dropping out of the workforce--sometimes permanently--to raise their children. In a lively discussion, The Feminine Mistake author Leslie Bennetts and The Ten Year Nap author Meg Wolitzer, along with columnist Meghan Daum, wonder when mothering became a full-time career.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• meghan daum
• leslie bennetts
• meg wolitzer
• the ten year nap
• feminine mistake
• housewife
• stay at home mom
• motherhood
• feminism
• zocalo

[ladyEulaelie]

I agree that a stay at home mother who has the best intentions could become too involved and too overbearing, but being a stay at home mom doesn't mean living through your children. Do teachers and daycare providers, who often spend more time with our children than parents do, live through our children, or do they educate, teach and guide them and keep them safe? I admire these women who abandon the workforce to raise their kids and many do have interests outside just their homes & kids.

[ladyEulaelie]

I'm outrage at the jeering of stay-at-home moms....as if they are destined to become an overbearing thorn in her kids side. I don't find it ridiculous at all that a parent sacrifices for her children. Father's sacrifice as well. If it were true that gender roles were a social construct (I find that it's not) and the tables were turned it would be women fighting to stay home.

[MrMuffStench]

Feminists = social engineers -- regardless of what the average woman wants. Why? Because feminists are egotistical, self absorbed, and hyper sensitive. These megalomaniacs think they know more than everyone else.

[paisleyyama]

@cpices Wow do you have children? I can`t imagine any mom saying it is "RIDICULOUS that moms have to sacrifice". Sacrifice comes with being a parent. There is just no way around it. The sacrifice begins in the womb actually with losing one`s figure and all the aches & pains that come w/pregnancy. But sacrifice pays off like atheletes sacrificing to be champs, CEOs sacrificing to be at the top, etc.

[paisleyyama]

@blandinthebasement Come on, 29 year old man, that is going overboard. Yes the man should be grateful for his mom but the mom needs to let them man be a man. We raise our children to be adults not to keep them as babies.

[cpices]

This woman is correct. I beg to differ on the statement, "those women who sacrifice themsleves to mold future generations". Women are not only valued by childrearing or marriage. This is a LIE. There is so much more to womanhood than to give birth and marry. So, yes it is RIDICULOUS that mothers have to sacrifice!

[blandinthebasement]

I couldn't disagree more with the lady in the middle....yikes.

That 29-year-old man ought to be grateful his mother was willing to give up so much for his sake---this is just blatant lack of gratitude on behalf of society for those women who sacrifice themselves to mold future generations.

I wonder if it would surprise any of these ladies to know that their opinion matters very little in my mind--I don't care what careers they've had.