Interesting blog from a stay-at-home Mom in response to Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In. She speaks powerfully of the joys of mothering, its importance in her life, and her conflicted feelings about leaving her career behind for a while. While I can’t say that I agree that, as she states, “socializaton and forced gender roles have nothing” (emphasis mine) to do with the joy she experiencing in her children, this doesn’t take away from the depth or the authenticity of the feelings. Just because we’re socialized in a particular way doesn’t make our joys and sorrows associated with that socialization less authentic.
I think this also points to the need to value choices to parent, work, or a combination of these equally, regardless of the sex of the parent. All three roles are vitally important personally and at a societal level.
I really enjoyed reading Jenny Kuhle’s experiences as a professional and mother. It was nice to read a different perspective that related to Sheryl Sandberg’s book Lean In. I admire and respect her opinion and hope to one day be as content and happy as she is. Although women have pressures from society to be the best possible mom whose children are their whole world, we have to remember that some women choose this path voluntarily and aren’t just conforming to “gendered norms”.