That'll be me, being interviewed by Betty Nguyen on CNN Sunday Morning, 9.30, so turn on the TV!
My line this mothers' day: give those mothers in your life flowers and breakfast in bed and a gift certificate to their favorite spa or store. Then go out and fight like hell so all of us can have paid family leave, an end to the 15% wage gap for mothers, better part time work opportunities with decent pay, grants for childcare if they need them, and an easier chance getting back into the workplace if they want to take time out. And health care for the family that's not linked to where we work.
This mothers day, let's make it real. And let's start telling our stories as mothers and fathers, and saying what we want.
4 comments:
That healthcare/job link is huge. I try to imagine a world where we could work where ever we want, leave jobs we hate, and carefully select the right job for our careerpath without worrying whether or not our kid will be able to go to the hospital during the transitions and search process. We've recently went through this dilemma.. didn't want to give up Kaiser because that's where Toddler in Chief has surgery. Can't go work for a company that doesn't offer Kaiser. So healthcare dictates the job, not the job. It's totally ass-backwards. Fortunately Father in Chief ended up with the job he wanted and heath plan we needed. Phew.
Give 'em hell, Miriam. This is a crazy world we live in, and the more people fighting to change it, the better.
Dear Miriam,
I found your blog via your MMO interview and Half Changed World tonight, and I wanted to say that your book is going to be my Mother's Day present to myself! I am thrilled by how eloquently you locate the Mommy Wars' origins solidly within the realms of politics and labor relations (with a small crossover into the "competition we imbibe as Americans," of course). I also appreciate your clear call to political action; I've been a great "desk top and credit card" activist for several years now, but come to think of it, not one of my e-mails, letters, or contributions has been directly related to my own quest for a family health insurance option that will free me to leave my full-time job and keep only the part-time one! (Somehow my self-employed architect husband feels no particular compulsion in this regard.) I'll be bringing up the politics of motherhood a lot more often from now on.
I am on the board of a community group that works to support the Women's Studies Program at the University of Houston. The department is hosting a conference on 21st Century Motherhood this October. I called my friend who is the director of the WOST program as soon as I finished reading your interview; I hope you will be able to participate in the conference in some way.
Meanwhile, I can't wait to read the book. I'm sorry I missed you on CNN this morning, but I'll be watching for your next appearance; there are sure to be more!
MaryScott
Hi MaryScott, and welcome to my blog, and thanks for writing and inspiring me! I'll blog some about the CNN spot tomorrow, but that, and a book event I did later on Mothers Day left me more compelled than ever to continue raising motherhood as a political, collective issue.
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