Motherhood is work

“She hasn’t worked a day in her life.”

Oh no, not again.

Eight words and four decades of female strengths and capabilities suddenly evaporate. Welcome to the reoccurring episode of the “Mommy Track.”

One generation shy of the Women’s Liberation Movement, I knew the differences in equality that women were fighting for, but could only watch from the teen sidelines. I could instinctively argue with my father that wages weren’t the same between the sexes. He could instinctively remind me, the first to go to college in our family, that a career is fine, but it all would change because the most important thing was raising a family.

Fast forward to current politicians needing the women’s vote and their recent rallying around mothers, child rearing and apple pie. Is it me or does anyone still  (care/mind/agree/disagree) if a person wants to be home with the kids? Does anyone still (care/mind/agree/disagree) if a person wants to work outside the home?

It’s 2012. Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve been there, done that.

However, what should come out of this unwarranted déjà vu is a reminder to the pundits in this election year to grow up and stop wielding work as a derisive measurement of personal value. No one should explain or validate what they do (and why) for themselves and their families. 

Here’s a thought; what would happen if we heard the above quote and laughed without feeling the need to negate or defend it? More like to ignore it for the absurdity it is.

Forty years later we need to show that we have learned something about our worth and we do not need to demonstrate anything anymore. All we really need in this moment is the satisfaction that our lives work . . . for us. 


Lauren Lev is an East Meadow resident and a direct marketing/advertising executive working on Long Island. She teaches advertising and marketing communications courses at the Fashion Institute of Technology/SUNY and LIU Post. Her story on a Jewish education program impacting our local community will appear in “Thin Threads: Real Stories of Hadassah Life Changing Moments” in late spring 2012.