Me-ternity Advocate Admits Feminism Fails Women
Meghann Foye, author of the new novel Meternity, advocates for all women in their thirties to take a paid leave from work ("maternity leave with all the perks” except the baby) in order to find themselves. What she’s really done is proven that contemporary feminism has failed the women it promised to rescue from the supposed drudgery of motherhood.
Ten years in a fast-paced career left Foye feeling burnt out and jealous of her co-workers who, she claims, would leave the office an hour early (6 p.m. instead of 7 p.m. – wow, so early!) to presumably spend time with their kids. “It seemed that parenthood was the only path that provided a modicum of flexibility,” she observed. In other words, choosing the career path wasn’t as liberating as she and two entire generations of women have been told. Apparently the drudgery of being a slave to your job makes the supposed drudgery of having kids look appealing.
Foye’s commentary goes deeper, inadvertently blaming the career world for stripping women of their confidence and sense of independence: “And as I watched my friends take their real maternity leaves, I saw that spending three months detached from their desks made them much more sure of themselves.” In other words, women who had children not only reclaimed their confidence, they also laid claim to a sense of purpose they lacked in their career. It’s a truth that stands in complete opposition to the feminism of the bra-burning '60s.
Meghann Foye, author of the new novel Meternity, advocates for all women in their thirties to take a paid leave from work ("maternity leave with all the perks” except the baby) in order to find themselves. What she’s really done is proven that contemporary feminism has failed the women it promised to rescue from the supposed drudgery of motherhood.
Ten years in a fast-paced career left Foye feeling burnt out and jealous of her co-workers who, she claims, would leave the office an hour early (6 p.m. instead of 7 p.m. – wow, so early!) to presumably spend time with their kids. “It seemed that parenthood was the only path that provided a modicum of flexibility,” she observed. In other words, choosing the career path wasn’t as liberating as she and two entire generations of women have been told. Apparently the drudgery of being a slave to your job makes the supposed drudgery of having kids look appealing.
Foye’s commentary goes deeper, inadvertently blaming the career world for stripping women of their confidence and sense of independence: “And as I watched my friends take their real maternity leaves, I saw that spending three months detached from their desks made them much more sure of themselves.” In other words, women who had children not only reclaimed their confidence, they also laid claim to a sense of purpose they lacked in their career. It’s a truth that stands in complete opposition to the feminism of the bra-burning '60s.
" generation is ridiculous. And I'm not talking about you young gals; I'm talking about women my age who were fed that nonsense. This is why the next generation is so screwed up: because their crazy mommies were self-involved and neurotic.