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InterestingRead 13 - 02 Jul 2012 - Main.KatherineMackey
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| | I'm sure that some of you have already heard about or read this article - "Why Women Still Can't Have it All", written by Anne-Marie Slaughter and published in the July/August edition of The Atlantic - but I thought I'd share it for those who haven't, as it provides some thought-provoking commentary on issues that both women and men face in striving to attain fulfillment at work and at home.
Slaughter specifically highlights the legal industry, built on the foundation of the billable hour, and discusses the unique challenges that this model presents for a law firm associate seeking to establish a work/life balance with which he or she is satisfied. | | | I read the Slaughter article yesterday when you posted it and happened to come across this response by James Joyner while taking a break at work. Though the Joyner piece is obviously much shorter than Slaughter’s, I found that it highlighted many of the issues that I felt were problematic in the original article. Like Skylar mentioned, I thought Slaughter’s article was somewhat meandering and kept stressing the hope that “women can have it all,” when nearly every anecdote made it look like the closest thing to “having it all” was only a few steps away from miserable anyway.
The Joyner article is a bit more cynical, and I guess I am too, which is why I like it better. Joyner specifically addresses Slaughter’s suggestion that women (and men) can maintain a better personal/work life balance if society changes—Joyner sees that “evolution” to be “impossible.” | |
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< | “All things being equal, those willing to put 90 hours a week into their careers are going to get ahead of those willing to put in 60, much less 40. While there is any number of studies showing that working too many hours is actually counterproductive from an efficiency standpoint, there nonetheless is a rare breed of cat who can keep up a frenetic work schedule for years on end. And those workaholics are simply more valuable to the company, agency, or organization than those who clock out at 5. That means that those of us who choose to prioritize our children are going to get out-hustled by those without children, or those willing to let their children spend longer hours with a partner or childcare provider.” | >
> | “All things being equal, those willing to put 90 hours a week into their careers are going to get ahead of those willing to put in 60, much less 40. While there is any number of studies showing that working too many hours is actually counterproductive from an efficiency standpoint, there nonetheless is a rare breed of cat who can keep up a frenetic work schedule for years on end. And those workaholics are simply more valuable to the company, agency, or organization than those who clock out at 5. That means that those of us who choose to prioritize our children are going to get out-hustled by those without children, or those willing to lDet their children spend longer hours with a partner or childcare provider.” | | | Like Joyner, I would like to agree with Slaughter and see attitudes about careers move in a direction where a more fulfilling life is possible for anyone (male or female) that struggles to split time between career ambition and the desire to spend time on family or personal matters. For me, the most poignant illustration in the Slaughter article was the brief comparison between a working mother who must manage her time to care for her family and an athlete splitting time between work and training. Slaughter (using a rhetorical question) paints this picture such that the reader takes pity on the mother because she does the same amount of work as the runner without being championed in the same way. | | | I also wanted to share this speech that Nora Ephron gave at Wellesley's commencement in 1986. She also talks about having it all. Her conception is clearly different than Slaughter's and is a little more in line with the one mentioned in this discussion and in class. | |
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> | Main.Katherine Mackey - 1 July 2012 | | |
I've also really enjoyed reading all of the responses to this discussion - thanks everyone! Katherine, I really like Ephron's speech - thank you for sharing it. I agree, it seems more aligned with how "having it all" has been framed throughout this thread. And I share Rumbi and Lizzie's appreciation for the way that Slaughter has sparked a more candid discussion of work/family balance. |
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