While the Mommy Wars feel a bit self-perpetuating, we’re kind of hooked. Mommy news resembles the news on the food industry, it’s like no one has a clue what’s right and what’s wrong, so every week we hear something different. Even knowing this, we can’t stop ourselves!
Breaking News out of Harvard Business School… The best thing you can do for your daughter, GET A JOB! Yup, a recent study found that women who work are more likely to have daughters who work, and those daughters will earn more than their counterparts who had stay-at-home moms. Also, moms who work have sons who “pitch in” more around the house, a win-win for future generations of women.
One note here… THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A MOM WHO DOESN’T WORK. If you’re at home with your kids, you’re likely working your ass off. Can we just throw that expression out of our lexicon; it feels super loaded to me and totally inaccurate. Staying at home with children is hard, stressful and exhausting and financially it pays shit, so a little recognition would be awfully nice. (PS: saying this does not mean I don’t love my children…)
On the other end of the spectrum, we found an OpEd in the NyTimes that felt super creepy and equally fascinating. “Poor Little Rich Girls” chronicles the life and sexual segregation of the mommies of the Upper East Side. These powerhouse mommas are getting paid bonuses by their tycoon husbands for good performance. Wednesday Martin the anthropologist/author, points out that while these bonuses may be perceived as a road to financial freedom, they’re more like a road to serfdom.
