Posted on 07/28/2004 4:34:29 PM PDT by Mr. Silverback
Note: This commentary was delivered by Prison Fellowship President Mark Earley.
Gretchen Ritter, a women’s studies professor at the University of Texas, has a problem with stay-at-home moms—actually, several problems. Stay-at-home motherhood, she explains, is bad for men, women, and children alike. It damages our society as a whole and makes lesbian mothers feel bad.
Ritter made all these charges in an opinion piece titled, “The messages we send when moms stay home,” published in the Austin American-Statesman. The diatribe was her attempt at starting what she called “an honest conversation about what is lost when women stay home.” Just read her own words on the harm caused by stay-at-home moms, because no words of mine can do full justice to her ideas (as they say, folks, you just can’t make this stuff up):
“[Stay-at-home motherhood] denies men the chance to be involved fathers. . . .
“Women who stay at home . . . lose a chance to contribute as professionals and community activists. . . .
“Full-time mothering is also bad for children. It teaches them that the world is divided by gender. . . .
“The new stay-at-home motherhood movement parallels the movement to create the ‘perfect’ child. It’s not just that mothers are home with their children; they are engaged with their children constantly so they will ‘develop’ properly. Many middle-class parents demand too much of their children. . . .
“The stay-at-home mother movement is bad for society. It tells employers that women who marry and have children are at risk of withdrawing from their careers. . . . ”
And finally, “The more stay-at-home mothers there are, the more schools and libraries will neglect the needs of working parents, and the more professional mothers, single mothers, working-class mothers, and [yes,] lesbian mothers will feel judged.”
I’m not sure where Ritter is coming from. I don’t know whether her own mother worked, or whether she has kids of her own. And since she doesn’t provide any data to back up her ideas, I have no idea where she’s getting them. All I know is that she writes like someone who lives on a planet of her own—perhaps a planet where test tubes and incubators do the messy, complicated job of raising children. I would think that only someone with that perspective could believe stay-at-home moms deny their husbands opportunities to be with the kids, or that consistent engagement with one’s children will scar them for life. So far, my six children appear to be doing just fine despite—or could it be because of?—the fact that their mother is at home for them every day, and I am engaged.
Fortunately, a number of our readers, including one of our own Centurions, wrote letters to the editor rebutting Ritter’s statements, citing both academic studies and their own experience. That’s what we should do whenever a piece like this gets published. Maybe some stay-at-home moms can op-ed pieces for their local papers as well.
You know, it’s tempting just to disregard these loony ideas, but this article was written by a professor at a major university and published in a mainstream newspaper. We can’t take it for granted that everyone will disagree with her. Our job as Christians is to go on the offensive and actively but winsomely promote a worldview that makes sense and really works. Anyone out there got a few minutes to write the Austin American-Statesman on behalf of stay-at-home moms and common sense? I hope so.
"Stay-at-home motherhood, she explains, is bad for men, women, and children alike. It damages our society as a whole and makes lesbian mothers feel bad."
Because of the above words in the article.
Oh, I'm sorry. You were commenting on her, not asking me. [thumps hand against forehead vigorously]
"Gretchen Ritter, a women’s studies professor at the University of Texas, ...."
Apparently, the taxpayers of the state of Texas are paying her.
Yep. Besides, wouldn't a "professional mother" be one who considers raising her children to be her profession??
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