Posts Tagged ‘fathers’
The Problematic of Work Life Balance Part 3: To Be or not to Be Gender Differences
[/caption]
This is the third and last (for now at least) of Debjani Chakravarty’s series exploring work life balance through the lens of economic and political culture. in this post, she asks the question of whether work life balance can or should be gender neutral. Debjani is a graduate student and artist, currently pursuing a PhD in the Women and Gender Studies Program at Arizona State University. She has worked as a journalist and social worker in India.
Rebecca is a grad student, and she works part time at Starbucks. She is getting a degree in social work, hopeful of pursuing a career she’s passionate about. She also works as an editor and ghost writer on the side. When I ask Rebecca about work life balance, she says, “Strange I never think about it. My parents never went to college and they never left their little Ohio town where I grew up. For them, my life’s a dream come true, and they are hopeful that someday I’ll be able to do all those things that they only planned about, travel, work a respectable job, buy a big house. Work life balance, let’s see. For me it’s about taking the occasional Adderall, so that I can keep working. My life’s on hold right now, work is all that matters.”
Read MoreFathers Day Edition: Daughters Make the Political Personal for Dads
Obama’s “Promoting Strong Fathers” speech and town hall last week was not just great role modeling and a politically smart thing to do, it had some very poignant moments that scratched the surface, albeit gently, of the president’s quest to know his father. He came to terms with that missing piece of his own identity long ago, as chronicled in his book, Dreams of My Father.
Still, I couldn’t help but feel sadness in my heart when he talked about his absent father, even as he expressed appreciation for his mother’s struggles and how his loving grandparents cared for him.
[caption id="attachment_3665" align="aligncenter" width="431" caption="L-R: Gloria, Deborah, Kristal, Courtney"]
[/caption]
I was watching the town hall because fathers were much on my mind as I prepared for yesterday’s “Dads, Dudes and Doing It” panel, along with WomenGirlsLadies co-panelists, Courtney Martin, Kristal Brent Zook, and Deborah Siegel-Acevedo. Together, we span five decades in age and we speak through both gender and generational lens.
[caption id="attachment_3666" align="alignleft" width="269" caption="My friends called my father "Big Max" because it described both his height--6' 3"--and his personality"]
[/caption]
We had a lot of fun as we always do with our panels, but it was nevertheless emotional for each of us in different ways to be talking about our fathers. I’m the panel’s senior citizen, and I was missing my daddy who died almost 15 years ago. I speculated that he never connected his personal declaration that his daughters could do “anything their pretty little heads desire” with the political movement of women that a decade or two later would turn the political system upside down to make sure we actually could aspire without legal impediment to whatever heights we wanted.
Read MoreHow Are Gender Politics Changing?
While in some quarters gender wars continue to rage, Father’s Day 2009 is bringing us stories of dramatic changes in the politics of marriage, relationships, and parenthood.
USA Today calls it a “New daditude”: Today’s fathers are hands-on, pressure off and says:
Hmm. I wonder how moms feel about that comparison. A little, um, competitive maybe? Check out this article–it takes on exactly the kind of changing gender roles issues we WomenGirsLadies will discuss Saturday, June 20 at 2pm at the Brooklyn Museum. It’s called “Dads, Dudes, and Doing It” and we want your voice in the conversation! All the infos’s here. Come on down!
And if you’re not in the New York area, tell us what you think anyway–leave your comments here and I’ll be sure to share them with the audience on Saturday.
Read MoreThe Daddy Shift: Men of Tomorrow
Everything is politics.
Certainly within the family the issue of who takes care of the kids is highly charged and highly staked for all concerned. It seems to me that the next wave of feminism must be for men and women together to take on changing the workplace so both can have a life while earning a living and making sure their children are in fact well cared for.
That’s why this Washington Post article, “Get Ready to Step up, Dad” caught my eye. Here’s an excerpt”
Read More