My heart sank this morning as I saw this article on the front page of The Washington Post.
"Michelle Obama's Career Time Out."
Front page coverage presenting her as a high profile victim of the balancing/opt-out discussion.
I'm not upset by Obama's decision to take time off from her career for family reasons -- so many of us have made that decision (I'm NOT going to call it a "choice"). After all, her husband is running for that POTUS job. Gotta be just a teeny bit of pressure there on the family.
But I know other people will be. It will only be a few media minutes from now when our same-gender critics take this one up and try to make it into a rallying cry for staying in the workplace, no matter what, to advance the cause of the sisterhood.
I'd like to see her tale used as a rally for something different.
If someone as high-profile as Michelle Obama can't negotiate a workplace accommodation, then where does that leave the rest of us?
I can only hope that somehow that her husband Barack Obama can use this to illustrate as a campaign issue why more workplaces need to shift the view of what is workable for professional people, women AND men alike.
It's not about women not being able to suck it up and stick it out. It's about dragging employers kicking and screaming into the 21st Century and understanding that we're not living in a 1950's world anymore.
Maybe they won't get it until more women leave the workplace and they see their bottom lines plummeting when half the qualified work force steps off the track and businesses are left scrambling for qualified replacements.
Friday, May 11, 2007
What Hope Is There for The Rest of Us ??
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4 comments:
I saw that article too. It was actually refreshing to have her talk about her conflict over working so honestly. I got the impression, reading the article, that this is someone I would really like and not just see as part of a cheesy political package.
I wonder how much of her decision is more about putting her husband's career first rather than not being able to balance it all. It sounds like, up until now, she'd been balancing the whole work/family thing pretty well, albeit with the usual mommy guilt. But the pressure of being a mom AND the spouse of a presidential candidate has got be agonizing.
You know, Hillary Rodham Clinton took a leave of absence during Bill's presidential campaign, and then she quit the law firm. Nobody said she "opted out."
It is so agonizingly difficult for me to balance my housework, volunteer time, time with the boys and freelance work. And, oh yes, I'm a wife too. I don't know how the system could help Moms -- as many of our pressures are self-inflicted -- and women like Her make it easier for Moms like me to see I'm not alone. But, childcare, I will say, is my biggest problem.
I agree with Lawyer Mama's question of her motivation for quitting. Perhaps it is more about wanting to support her husband on the road than it is that she couldn't find a flexible working arrangement. Something tells me that if she really did want to continue working, she could have found a way to do it. You do raise good points though, and I'm always happy to discuss the sorry state of flexible working options for women!
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