The Dark Side to Being a Career Mother

Why should a woman be forced to choose between motherhood and a career?

Becoming a mom, giving birth, raising children, and being their role model is one of the most exciting things most women go through in life. But it is also one of the hardest jobs we face as career women.

Society makes it look easy like women shouldn’t complain about having a career and being a mom because we undertake less challenging duties in our jobs. Yet women work harder than their male counterparts in the same field of study. Men are calling the shots, and they aren’t aware of the challenges women face in their jobs.

I watched Kelvin Samuels on Youtube bash career mothers for not choosing to be housewives. Kelvin thinks women shouldn’t have jobs. And like Kelvin, most sexist men think mothers should be home tending to their children and husband (or partner).

Choosing between a career and motherhood is a dilemma every working woman or any girl who inspires to be one has to face in her life.

Mary Matalin spent two years as an assistant to Bush and the counselor to Vice President Dick Cheney before stepping down to spend more time with her daughters, said:

“Having control over your schedule is the only way that women who want to have a career and a family can make it work.”

Yet her decision to step down from a position of power — to value family over professional advancement, even for a time — is directly at odds with the prevailing social pressures on career professionals in the United States.

Career mums have more difficult lives than most men, yet we put on a smile and work our asses off to fill the gaps in society, the workplace, and home.

It’s ridiculous to think women should be excluded from the workforce during specific years. Some women even get fired from their jobs once they start having babies. As if pregnancy and childbirth are horrendous.

Challenges career mothers face

Career mothers are defined as women with a career and added responsibility of raising a child. They include work from home mothers and work away from home mothers.

Many career moms start their families while they are working and others may find it necessary to return to work earlier than expected during the postpartum period.

The working mother is an institution in itself, one who combines a successful career that gives her financial independence with effective motherhood that brings up a child.

It is important to understand that both jobs are extremely demanding, and doing justice to each without neglecting the other is a formidable task.

However, a woman can have a flourishing career, but she has to do it while carrying the burden of parenting and household chores.

Many working women have little or no help when it comes to parenting. The resulting stress and exhaustion force them to make a choice that will change the course of their life forever — motherhood or career.

According to a survey, career women still have to work very hard to compete with men in the workplace to achieve the same status, and many feel they have to adopt a fake character to fit in and succeed, often by holding back or making themselves smaller.

To succeed in a career mother have to work as if she’s not mom, and as a mother, she commits to her family as if she doesn’t have a job or business.

She feels guilty when she takes time away from work to handle her children’s needs. And if she takes time away from her family for work, she feels the guilt too. It is a constant feeling of being pulled in two different directions.

Women can have both careers and motherhood

Women are well aware that there is added pressure once they have a baby. There is a constant fear that she may be passed over for a promotion or a project she may have been given prior to becoming a mother.

Women know that there is extra pressure once they have a baby. There is a constant fear that she may be denied a promotion or a project that was awarded to her before she became a mother.

However, these changes don’t have to be negative. Rather, motherhood can help women develop valuable skills that can help them become better workers. Finding a balance between motherhood and work requires setting realistic expectations.

We need to understand the value of individual dreams and aspirations, and that of mothers is no exception. While motherhood may be the most beautiful blessing a woman receives, it shouldn’t be the end of our individuality.

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