Staff Reports
In the latest chapter of the never-ending saga of “You Can Have It All Women in the Workforce,” we meet yet another disillusioned corporate warrior. This time, it’s a 40-year-old mom of two, who after half a lifetime of climbing the corporate ladder, has decided the view from the top isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. She recently took a break from her packed meeting schedule to let off some steam, confessing to anyone who’d listen that she fell for the big illusion — the promise of having a stellar career, kids, and a Pinterest-perfect life all at once.
Apparently, this superwoman myth sold by popular shows and glossy magazine covers is nothing more than a cleverly marketed lie. She declared she’s done trying to be every woman, every day. No more tightrope walking between boardroom deadlines and PTA meetings; she desires to become the mom who can actually pick her kids up from school and bake cookies without burning them. Instead of conquering the corporate world, she just wants to conquer laundry day and enjoy some peace in her freshly cleaned house.
But she’s not alone in this revelation. Many women are echoing the sentiment on social media, claiming their lives went off script somewhere between a trial balance sheet and soccer practice. Once glamourized by sitcoms and female-empowerment narratives, the grind has now worn thin. The dream of a corner office isn’t all it’s cracked up to be when you’re missing your child’s first steps. Under the fluorescent lights of office buildings, mothers are faced with a hard truth: time with your children isn’t something you can get back, no matter how high your income.
Of course, this raises the classic debate about who—or what—women are really serving in this so-called liberated world. When you peel away the window dressing, it seems many feminists end up serving a faceless corporate machine instead of their families. Meanwhile, they’re left frustrated, bouncing between ambitious job goals and the desire to actually see their kids grow up. In the end, it seems one master is as demanding as the other, except one is yours and the other belongs to someone else, in a boardroom miles away.
But here’s the kicker: Perhaps it’s high time for men to rise to the occasion and start championing a family-first agenda. If they prioritize keeping the mother of their children at home, perhaps we might see fewer women experiencing career burnouts. The family unit stands to benefit more when both parents invest in raising their future adults, rather than being consumed with the climb up a lukewarm career ladder. After all, you never see a homeschool mom lamenting the fact that she never got to file TPS reports or meet quarterly sales targets. Families might find that, in the end, being present for major childhood milestones is the only reward worth any value.
