“Don’t settle for second best, you can have it all!” Such positive and motivational slogans are often used to empower women, to show that ambition knows no bounds and that there is no need to choose between a successful career and a family life.
But do these well-intentioned attitudes actually do more harm than good? Many women now feel intense pressure to live up to these high standards, to ‘show’ society that hard work, dedication and superhuman organizational skills can make ‘having it all’ a perfectly achievable goal.
But we rarely see the reality behind the carefully curated Instagram accounts, Pinterests, and well-maintained smiles of these uber-moms, many of whom struggle to juggle their responsibilities and keep up appearances.
Enter Sarah Buckley Friedberg, mother of three, microbiology manager for a medical device company, dog owner, loving wife, and many other things. Sarah pretends to go through motherhood and ‘having it all’ is a piece of cake. In a now-viral Facebook post, she decided to lay it all out on the table in a wittily written, eye-opening piece that shows just how insane society’s expectations of American mothers are.
European women are less attached to Sarah Post, offering generous help to new mothers to help ease the stress levels associated with juggling a career and a new family member. In an Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) analysis of maternity leave in 42 countries, the 10 most generous countries are in Europe, where laws allow women to take dozens of weeks of paid leave.
In addition, many countries offer mandatory paternity leave, giving fathers valuable time to raise and bond with their children.
Countries like Denmark also offer heavily subsidized childcare when both mom and dad are ready to go to work. At the other end of this scale is the United States, the least liberal member of all industrialized nations. Women in the U.S. are not guaranteed paid maternity leave, and individual employers can decide how much to offer. Because, you know, anything else is communism.
Why do you think American women are entitled to mandatory maternity leave? Are American mothers overworked and stressed? ‘Is everything there?’ Let us know what you think at Comments!
