Can Women Have It All?
Can women have it all? In other words, can they be successful at work and at home at the same time?
It’s a question raised by Anne-Marie Slaughter, a former government official, who’s generating a lot of conversation these days, because in a recent article she wrote for The Atlantic, she says “no," women can’t have it all! Why? In the article, Slaughter talks about the difficulties she faced working a high-stress job with the U-S State Department and raising two teenagers. For example: Even though she had what many would call a prestigious job, Slaughter says she was still conscious of going to her boss, and saying things like: “I can’t work late today because I have to go to a parent-teacher meeting.” She says that’s a struggle many working moms face today, and after two years in Washington, she decided that juggling the two full-time roles “was not possible,” so she resigned.
As you might expect, her decision isn’t sitting well with other working women. In fact, many describe Slaughter’s decision as “depressing.” Their thinking is: “If someone as successful as she can’t make this work, how can the average woman ever make it work?”
Experts say that’s a big deal when you consider that women have surpassed men in the workforce for the first time in history, but women are still fighting against the mentality that if you have to leave your job to deal with your family, then it means you “can’t cut it” in the working world. Slaughter calls it the “time macho myth,” which says you’re somehow a better employee if you work harder and longer.
So, what do you think? Can you have it all? Or does something always have to give? How do you balance work and family life. Weigh in at Facebook.com/JohnTesh.
It’s a question raised by Anne-Marie Slaughter, a former government official, who’s generating a lot of conversation these days, because in a recent article she wrote for The Atlantic, she says “no," women can’t have it all! Why? In the article, Slaughter talks about the difficulties she faced working a high-stress job with the U-S State Department and raising two teenagers. For example: Even though she had what many would call a prestigious job, Slaughter says she was still conscious of going to her boss, and saying things like: “I can’t work late today because I have to go to a parent-teacher meeting.” She says that’s a struggle many working moms face today, and after two years in Washington, she decided that juggling the two full-time roles “was not possible,” so she resigned.
As you might expect, her decision isn’t sitting well with other working women. In fact, many describe Slaughter’s decision as “depressing.” Their thinking is: “If someone as successful as she can’t make this work, how can the average woman ever make it work?”
Experts say that’s a big deal when you consider that women have surpassed men in the workforce for the first time in history, but women are still fighting against the mentality that if you have to leave your job to deal with your family, then it means you “can’t cut it” in the working world. Slaughter calls it the “time macho myth,” which says you’re somehow a better employee if you work harder and longer.
So, what do you think? Can you have it all? Or does something always have to give? How do you balance work and family life. Weigh in at Facebook.com/JohnTesh.
