I liked the boxed insert by Barbara Ehrenreich because it came off as a cautionary thing of what women should expect when they enter the workforce or attempt to. “The Mommy Test” reminded me of last week’s episode of Desperate House Wives (I don’t know if anyone here watches that show) when Felicity Huffman’s character Lynette tries to go back into the workforce as she and her husband reverse roles. Her boss, in spite of being a woman gives her a very tough time about being a mother and her character struggles to separate her role as a mother and a working woman. I remember a part where her son was starting his first day of kindergarten and wanted her instead of her husband to take him to school. Her boss wouldn’t allow her to come in late for work so she can fulfill her motherly duties and so she used today’s technology to her advantage by having her husband take a video phone so she can walk through with her son to school from afar. Even when she first applied for that job, her boss was very reluctant to hire her in spite of her experience because she feared her family would get in the way. I think as females we have to constantly justify ourselves and make it clear that we will separate and balance our family lives and our works. Even if a female decides having children is the best thing for her to others she has to show or prove that her career is her priority whereas men are not held to same expectations.
Posted by Deborah Philip at October 13, 2005 01:45 PM