Mothers as Revolutionaries
Very few Americans realize that there is deep bias against mothers in this country and that we are undermining family's ability to care for children. We have launched a new blog that is crossposted at The Huffinton Post. It is about consciousness raising and culture change. I began to understand this a few years ago when I learned that equal pay for equal work is just as big a problem today as it was forty years ago. I was shocked! Women without children now earn ninety cents to a man's dollar, mothers earn seventy-three cents, and single mothers earn about sixty cents to a man's dollar. A study done last year revealed that a mother is seventy-nine percent less likely to be offered a job when all other factors—including resumes, education, and job experience—are equal. Ever wonder why there are so many women and children in poverty? Ever wonder why there are so few women in leadership? Since over eighty percent of women become mothers I would say that women have a long way to go before they have equal opportunity in this country. Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner and I wrote The Motherhood Manifesto and launched www.MomsRising.org in 2006 and FamiliesRising.org in 2007 with policy and culture change in mind.
–Me, quoted in The Huffington Post, September 12th, 2007
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Kim Hoffman says:
Mothers and Feminism and Power
It must be considered that people possess an ambivalency when it comes to mothers. We all have conflicting emotions concerning mom and dad and siblings, especially those non-related to our own petty traumas. Employers looks at the cost and time supporting pregnancy and childbirth, and the constant interruptions at work brought about childcare. And few mothers are equipped to deal both with the responsibility of children and, simultaneously, the acquisition of power. Yet childbirth ranks as highly, if not higher, than the trauma of combat, and women are now actually performing both roles. (Seems like the question of women in combat has become mute, as war isn't fought along fronts anymore, but through the strategic methods of insurgency.)Britney Spears could be suffering a high dose of postpartum depression and, like veterans before her, surrounded by people who are either ignorant of the symptoms or in denial.
Then there is usual suspect: the established order, based on greed - greed of money and power - fat guys who do not want to share any of either with others. Certainly, one can think of myriad examples of mysogonistic actions, both physical and linguistic, which are geared to define the womans place in society. One can see it in reactions to Hilary Clinton or Mrs. Obama; and certainly in the trophy wives of other contenders. It is Cindy McCain - once slandered by her own party in 2000 - contrasting her pride in America with that of Obama's observation of experiencing new pride.
But what can a mother do? Her domestic work is full time as is the career she opts, indeed is forced by economic reality to pursue. We can catch a glimpse in the Hillary Clinton campaign. If she even appears to be on the verge of tears she's attacked as opportunistic or manipulative and if she doesn't show any weaknesses, she's a man killer.
That's how far moms have come and have to go...