The Feminine Mistake

Everyone has such differing opinions on "to stay at home or to not stay at home." In a world driven by money, I am not surprised that many feel that stay-at-home mothers are making a huge mistake. But, all in all, I am hoping that when people make the decision to quit their jobs to raise their children that it is done with a plan, not just haphazardly...or by society's influence.

The latest thing I heard was on the Today Show. Ann Curry interviewed Leslie Bennetts who wrote the book The Feminine Mistake. Basically, Bennetts made the point that women are misinformed when they make the choice to quit their jobs to raise their children. She blames the media on covering horror daycare stories or not focusing on what it means financially to a family for the woman to quit her job. Here is her response to many critical responses: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/leslie-bennetts/the-feminine-mistake_b_44690.html

I commend her for voicing her thoughts and concerns on women staying at home, but I also do not agree with the fact that she thinks most of us make our choices based on what the media says. It is amazing to me that women would even make a choice whether to quit their job or not based on what was said on their local news or CNN. How can Bennetts think we are all so weak-minded that we can't live our own lives or make up our own minds without the influence of the media?

The media is a paid service. It is a disgusting business that is based on what story is the most sensational and will get the most viewers to tune in. Think about what you see on your local news - murder, missing children, fires, controversy...people love shocking stories. Look at national news - it is all about entertainment. Tabloid stories about celebs or choosing the most hair raising statistic, such as: men lose weight faster than women, even if they do the same exercise and make the same food choices...why? Or a little boy who likes vaccuums. WTF? Stupid, yet, highly entertaining. And that is it, it is entertaining. So, why do people take what they see to heart? I worked with the news for a long time "selling" them stories, and luckily I learned how it works.

Knowing what I know, it saddens me that many women would listen to stories on the news to make their life decisions. At least, that is the point Bennetts is trying to make. She totally attacked the media in her interview, and frankly, it made her look stupid. At least to someone like me who made the choice to stay-at-home with Miss P with the TV OFF!