The Mother of all Conflicts: Your Children or Your Career
It's an issue that strikes at the hearts of millions of American women: Can you be a great mother and a successful career woman? Is it possible for women to have it all?
The above quotation was taken from Tuesday's Oprah, which was inspired by the resignation of Elizabeth Vargas from ABC's World News Report Tonight, one of the most prestigious jobs in television news. Vargas stepped down for a couple reasons, the main one being that she was pregnant with her second child and she could not risk travelling around the world at a drop of a hat while pregnant and/or leaving a breastfeeding infant behind. Since her resignation in May of 2006, Vargas and ABC have received a great deal of backlash and the heated argument over mothers staying home with her children versus mothers choosing a career is back on the table. I am very glad that Oprah opened up this can of worms and got more people talking. Two very good points made were that:
1. You need to decide what is right for you, for your family, and for your children, regardless of what others think;
2. Women need to respect what other women decide regarding choosing to stay home or to choose a career;
3. The issue is not black and white, cut and dry.
I have some definite opinions around the whole staying home vs. having a career issue, and to some degree I think I know what my decision will be when I get to that point in my life.
But let me throw out the question:
What do you think? Can women have it all by being moms and working outside the home?
posted by Val @ 8:59 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Hi Val. I'm intrigued. Here is the question that I always come back to: If the first 5 years are the most important, formative years and my child is in daycare 40 hours/week will I, as the mother, be the formative influence on my child? I wrestle with this, and I think ideally I want to stay home until my youngest (note: I have no children yet) starts first grade and then consider a career again if I want that. Although I strongly agree that the MOST important thing women can do is to respect each other's decisions and support each other. Good post. :o)
Hey Kate,
Thanks for your thoughts. Yes, I often wonder about staying home the first five or so years before returning to work, and I'm not sure what I would choose, actually. While not trying to cop out of the issue, I do think it's something I'll understand better when I actually do become a mother someday. However, I do strongly believe that women - all people - need to find and claim their own identity, outside of their spouses, family, and children (of course, your identity in Christ being the most important). Because what happens when your children are grown, your spouse passes away, etc?
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