February 13, 2017
The stay-at-home mom is a heavily stereotyped role that all unemployed (or even self-employed) mothers seem to have themselves categorized into at one point or another. And although the job of being a mother is among one of the most difficult in the world, society doesn’t seem to see it as such. When a woman reveals that her primary occupation is looking after her children, the assumption made is that her partner is the only true breadwinner in the family.
But of course, assuming this completely discredits a mother’s entire life and career before she had her children. We don’t know how much of the family income comes from the working partner, or from the stay at home mother who may have spent years garnering enough money to be able to comfortably accommodate her children. And if a mother didn’t have a long term career before having children, we must pose the big question: so what?
It may come as a shock to some that a woman’s occupation is none of our business. And when we put them into a box by referring to them as “stay-at-home moms”, it undercuts the rest of their success and accomplishments. It diminishes their college degrees, their career success, or everything that they sacrificed to have children and devote their lives to their upbringing.
As mother of three Erin Almond writes: “The most insidious side effect of this perception is that it allows our society to deny women full adult status. They’re effectively portrayed as little more than children themselves.” And she’s right: to view stay-at-home moms as nothing more than Real Housewives of God Knows Where is to flippantly cast aside the amount of elbow grease and emotional dedication they have given (and are still giving) to successfully raising a human child.
So, do women have to apologize for not working and being “just” moms? No. Does society need to change its condescending view towards the women that raised us? Yes.
