Are women attempting a balancing act not meant for stilettos as we carry babies on our backs and brief cases on our arms in an attempt to juggle being both a mother and a professional?
Photo curtsey: Rose Joy Kivellote/ Alternavox Magazine
Over the last few years, working-moms find themselves back in the lion’s den with spectators accusing them of playing a dangerous game by trying to “have it all,” when the focus should be more on men, who haven’t increased their responsibilities in making the family circus more successful.
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) have provided women with the job protection to start families at their leisure but the opportunity costs of playing both roles have not been alleviated. In fact they’ve been intensified. Working-moms are now expected to portray the role of The Cosby Show’s gorgeous Claire Huxtable who maintained her position as a high-powered attorney while still managing to make it home every night to have dinner with her family and help her children with their homework.
Phylicia Rashad as Claire Huxtable
Photo curtsey: okayplayer.com
This unreasonable expectation is only further encouraging preservation of gender roles. The duties of women are constantly expanding now include the responsibility of assisting in economically contributing to the household in addition to cooking, cleaning, ironing, and nurturing children. Yet, there have been no supplementary responsibilities added to the role of men.
Photo Curtsey Domestic Disturbia
In 1963, the Equal Pay Act was passed. In 1973 woman gained the right to choose. In 1988 the Equal Employment Opportunities Law was passed. Despite these accomplishments many women are too shy to say their spouse “you too can do it all.” Instead of rushing home to cook dinner after working 9 hours and spending their weekends cleaning their house, more women have to ask their husbands to pull their weight. As a new generation of women begins to raise children, we should be managing our sons’ expectations so that they understand that Claire Huxtable is just a fictional character and that one can only perform trapeze acts if they have an amazing partner to catch them.
