Over the weekend, I read a Newsweek magazine snippet about the new book Get to Work: A Manifesto for Women of the World, by Linda Hirshman. (by the way, Amazon is offering a special deal if you buy the book along with Mommy Wars – marketing genius!) After scanning the editorial reviews at Amazon, my quick thoughts are: 1/ She’s likely right that women take on too much of the household work, and therefore, it is much harder to balance child care, housework and a fulfilling job. 2/ I’m not sure how you fix #1.
Yes, in an ideal world, the housework and the child care responsibilities would be evenly split – both parents would depart (with a smile) for exciting jobs each morning, and there would be no second-guessing of such decisions. But who are we kidding? Yesterday, I spent at least an hour on the phone following up on various household needs, and those phone calls resulted in two at-home appointments later this week. In addition, how does one leave a high-paying job (and I say high-paying because the assertion is that these women are well-qualified workers who are passing up great opportunities by staying at home) at 2pm in order to drive to soccer practice twice a week? and what about business travel, or typical “fulfilling work” business hours? (and as an aside, what becomes of the local school once the army of volunteers drops off because they’re all working?)
I realize that such a critique is unfair, having not read the book, but like the mommy wars themselves, I see no solution in the near future. Your thoughts?