Analysis Of A Mothers Day Kiss Off

The article “The Myth of Co-Parenting: How It was supposed to Be. How It Was” was written by Hope Edelman who has written three nonfiction books, and has had articles published in the New York Times, and the Chicago Tribune. The author's purpose for writing this article is to depict reality for younger generations so they don’t expect to go one certain way. One high moment of the article is when the author realizes she and her husband do not have equal parts in the relationship. The article seems to be about how marriage can have down points and get better, however, it is really about how young women feel entitled to absolute equality possibly because of feminism.

In “The Myth Of Co-Parenting: How It Was Supposed To Be. How It Was.,” Hope Edelman lays out the many obstacles she and her husband, John, had to overcome in their first years of marriage. She admits that from the beginning she assumed that all responsibilities would be split 50/50: if she contributed to the household income, he would contribute to helping out with childcare and housekeeping. But because John was in the midst of starting a new business and was working up to 92 hours per week, Edelman quickly realized how wrong her assumption was. As her own work hours started to dwindle down to about 18 per week, Edelman started to become extremely angry with the way her household as being run. She wanted John there to help her make decisions,

In an article for Ms. Magazine, “The Mommy Wars: How the Media Turned Motherhood into a Catfight,” Susan Douglas (Author and University of Michigan Professor) and Meredith Michaels (Author and Professor of Philosophy at Smith College) shed light on the hypocrisy of the media’s portrayal of mothers depending upon social class. While on one periodical cover we may see a celebrity smiling perfectly as the headlines quote her saying how complete her life is now that she’s had her third child with her second husband, you may see another cover with a woman being decried as the epitome of what’s wrong with this country as she is living in subsidized housing raising her third child from a second father. We are told almost daily how the first

Marriage is something that most people go through at some time in their life. When people get married, their lives are drastically changed. They must be devoted to this person, wanting to please them with everything that they do. They are bound to this person and have to make sacrifices for them, even if they do not want to. “A Mother's Day Kiss-Off”, written by Leslie Bennetts, and “My Problem with Her Anger”, written by Eric Bartels, both share how women feel angry because of the inequality that they experience, either at home or at work. They are forced to make sacrifices that they do not want to make, and how this frustrates them. Both use examples of this anger and frustration from married women, yet they do it in different ways. Bennetts uses research and what she has seen and heard from in other women about their anger, while Bartels uses a real-life experience in his own home.

Most women engage in maternal gatekeeping as a result or response to a failed romantic relationship, making it hard for the father to be a part of his child life. Gatekeeping is another way for some mothers to get revenge for the happy end they never got. Also, some mother undermines the father of their child to make it seem like they don’t want to be in their child life. Hip hop fatherhood narratives such as Joe Budden “Role Reversal” and Don Trip “Letter to my Son” reinforce gender stereotypes about co-parenting labeling the mother as an angry mama.

“Good for her, not me. That is the motto women should constantly repeat over and over again. Good for her, not me,” (Poehler 32). This line from Amy Poehler’s new memoir, Yes Please, is reminding women to take a step back from the so called “Mommy Wars” and remember that not everything is a competition-- one style of parenting may be good for “her”, but not for “me”. The idea that women need to be reminded of this is a little ridiculous, but then again the concept of mother-versus-mother warfare is even more ridiculous. With the influence of the media, society has been forced into the debate of who is the better mother. Mother-blaming has become the cultural norm and is fueled by the media’s depiction of motherhood. Dividing women into two categories, the stay-at-home mom vs the working mother, results in the dimming of women’s power: mothers being pinned against one another are unable to band together and insist on social changes that would benefit all parents. This cultural emphasis on Mommy Wars is yet another way our patriarchal-society continues to oppresses women today.

In the article, “Against Gay Marriage,” author William J. Bennett believes if the government extended the status of marriage to homosexual couples, long-term social corruption would follow. His nostalgia for the heterosexual normativity paints an ugly picture of modern society. William Bennett provokes the debates on religious affairs in society, the commitment and ability of homosexual parents, and gay history in general. In the article, “A Mother’s Day Kiss-Off,” author Leslie Bennetts demonstrates the web woven within the lives of working mothers regarding their roles in domestic and corporate culture. She prioritizes her commitment to family above all other avenues of livelihood, which creates tension within her relationship. She also focuses heavily on the inequality of the sexes and how women sacrifice unnecessarily and often times unintentionally because of gender roles forced on society through culture. Both authors’ perspectives effectively appeal to the reader which add to their arguments, and detract from them by using uncited or poorly sourced information and personal experience; however, Bennetts disproves a traditional outlook on marital roles as she advocates for a changing society while Bennett exclaims the danger of homosexuals, marriage equality, and the effects of the sexual immorality in our culture.

Stephanie Coontz, author of “Why Gender Inequality Stalled,” emphasizes on how women are still challenged in today’s society about inequality of women wanting to have a career and raising a family instead of staying at home to care for her family. Women making the choice to have a baby and have a career is often frowned upon. According to Coontz, “when they become mothers, they face more scrutiny and prejudice on the job than fathers do” (7). In a two family household, mothers often have to take off work to care for their children in case of emergencies than fathers do. In single household families, mothers are full time parents and have a full time job.

Bennetts includes that most husbands still view childcare as their wives’ responsibility even if their wife is working. With this pressure, she thinks that mothers have resentment

Decades later, Kathryn Edin, Laura Tach, and Ronald Mincy indicated that this devotion to the mother-child dyad “offered the American public a wealth of knowledge about the lives of the mothers and their progeny, yet told us next to nothing about the fathers of these children” (2009, p. 150). In 1975, Michael Lamb famously called fathers “the forgotten contributors to child development” (p. 245).

Thesis- By focusing on why women are highlighted as mothers by the media I feel Born's article overlooks the fact that being a mother adds to the woman's achievement, increases the level of interest in her story, and fosters a greater respect for her.

The article starts off by presenting the findings of a previous article which states that the authors “struggle to find solid evidence for the argument that conceptualization of father involvement are unique from conceptualizations of mother involvement.” They go on to say that “researchers who suggest that parenting constructs are different for fathers and mothers should be explicit in proving theoretical explanations.” That is precisely what this article aims to do. From a theoretical perspective, qualitative data captures the live experiences, processes, and meanings of mothers and fathers. The article argues that there are key substantive distinctions between mothers and fathers, differences that could be deemed essential. In finding these

Motherhood rhetoric – this sub-topic of rhetoric is niche and specific, but it relates to several vaster areas of rhetoric that are constantly being practiced and discussed. Feminism, gender norms, and social constructs all play into motherhood rhetoric, and consequently, these different areas of rhetoric that shape motherhood rhetoric also play a major part in “Mommy Wars.” Mommy Wars rhetoric is exceedingly prevalent and divisive in today’s society. In this Special Topics of Rhetoric Project, I will be examining and exploring the ideas in several sources that help clarify these issues, and consequently, the entities that are perpetuating this harmful rhetoric in today’s mothers. In both online and in physical relationships and interactions, the Mommy Wars rhetoric that divides mothers is perpetuated largely by cultural norms, societal norms, and media involvement.

In the 1960s to 1970s, a feminist movement began and sparked a change in attitudes towards women in familial roles and pushed against gender inequality. This movement’s effects trickled down to the opinions and actions of people in the later 1970s to mid-1980s. The period saw a decline in the backing of the traditional family wife role for women and greater acceptance for women finding employment (Mason, K.O., Lu, Y., 1988). However, the change also encountered backlash, with the growth of employed mothers came concerns of the negative effects on the children and their relationship with the mother (Mason, K.O., Lu, Y., 1988). This triggered an inconsistent time for family structure. The nineties saw

Societal perceptions of motherhood in North America have changed drastically over the last century and continue to change. Due to prescribed traditional gender roles, the concept of motherhood has historically been latent in the concept womanhood, in that a woman’s ability to reproduce was seen to be an inherent part of her identity. Thus there existed societal pressures not only for women to become mothers, but to fit into the impossible standard of being the “perfect mother”. However, as the feminist movement gained more ground and women were increasingly incorporated into the workforce, these traditional views of gender roles and in turn motherhood were challenged. As the family dynamics that exist today are much more diverse, what