March 8th is International (Working) Women's Day

Although International Working Women's Day has become International Women's Day, I wanted to take an opportunity to discuss the on-going debate among many women about whether or not women should be a part of the workforce. (Yes, this debate is still alive and kicking.) I have spoken with women who stay home and with women who go out to work. Some stay-at-home mothers have the strong opinion that mothers who go out to work are not at home raising their children as they should be. I have heard working women say that stay-at-home mothers are lazy because they do not work outside the home and place a heavy financial burden on their significant others. With that said, I am not trying to insight war between working women and women who stay at home; that war has already been going on for many years.

In the United States, women really began to achieve a strong foothold in the workplace during the beginning of World War II. Even after all these years, many women continue to debate about where their "place" is. Gender stereotyping and putting people in designated roles where we imagine they should be are not appropriate. Great diversity is found in our society. The following opposing viewpoints are from discussions I have had with various women residing in the United States and Canada.

Opposing Viewpoints: Working Women and Moms in the United States

Women's Participation in the Workforce Has Harmed Society / Women's Participation in the Workforce Has Helped Society

Has Harmed Society

Some women believe that when women entered the workforce, especially in the 1960's during the feminist revolution and then thereafter, the family unit became less stable. Many women have said they do not receive the kind of emotional support they need to stay home, revealing that they feel pressured to enter into the workforce whether they want to or not. Some women believe that the feminist movement has emasculated society's men, stripping them of their desire to protect or their ability to be an adequate male role model for their children.

Has Helped Society

One main stance women who view women's participation in the workforce as helpful is that a dual income creates the kind of financial security a family needs to have a stable home. Some women believe the stay-at-home women of the 1950's were far more depressed than the working women of today. Some believe marriages in which women stay home put a great deal of stress on their partners who feel burdened by the cost of family life. Many women believe women in the workforce have established a sense of gender equality and self-reliance.

Women's Participation in the Workforce Has Harmed Children / Women's Participation in the Workforce Has Not Harmed Children

Has Harmed Children

Some women believe working women are too distracted by multi-tasking to be good mothers. Some women think that the children of working women are more insecure and less stable than the children of stay-at-home women. Many women believe that if a woman has children she should be the one to raise her children. To have children raised by strangers or other family does not enable the sort of bonding that should take place in a mother-child relationship. Some women believe children of working women grow up and do not really even know their mothers.

Back in 2001, BBC News reported that research suggested "Children of full-time working mothers are more likely to perform badly in school [especially in families where the mother returned to full-time work before her children were five years old]". BBC News (2001) also reported the increase of psychological issues in adults who, during childhood, had parents who both worked full time. Some women believe if a woman wants to work outside the home she should not have children.

Has Not Harmed Children

Some women who believe women's participation in the workforce has not harmed children maintain that economic obligation to the family puts women into the workplace and this obligation creates a better financial security for the children and the entire family unit. Many of the women think that the quality of time spent with children is more important than quantity. Many working mothers reported that they feel their children are more independent and well-rounded because they have learned a better sense of responsibility from their mothers. Generally the belief is that the children of working women turn out just fine.

Conclusion

Over the years I have had discussions with both groups of women, most of them residing in the United States and several who reside in Canada. Some women who stay home feel guilty about staying home. Other women who work outside of the home feel guilty for being away. Others are fine with whatever decisions they have made. Those women debating the topic might set the debate aside and just celebrate that they have the right to choose.

The focus of International (Working) Women's Day is on women who have, since the 1900's, made great strides in the workforce and in society. Worldwide, gender role ideology has persisted on some level. In many nations, International (Working) Women's Day has a political tone; in other nations, the day excludes (Working) and is now referred to as International Women's Day. The United Nations intended this day to mark social and political awareness of "...the struggles of women worldwide..." and to strengthen the desire for all women worldwide to have political rights, equal rights, and human rights (WWSF, 2011).

References:

BBC News. (2001). Working mothers' link to school failure. Retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/1218905.stm

WWSF. (2011). 8 March - International Women's Day. Retrieved from http://www.woman.ch/index.php?page=women_8Mar&hl=en_US