She's an idiot that is hurting the push for proper parental leave for new parents. 25% of women have to go back to work 2 weeks after giving birth, the majority of that number are low paid workers since those with money can afford unpaid FMLA. If she wants a break negotiate a sabbatical, take vacation leave, whatever. Plus maternity leave kind of sucks you are bleeding, lactating, hurting when you use the potty, not sleeping because every 3ish hours baby is awake and wanting to eat. All you do the first few months is change diapers, feed baby, get up with baby, get baby to sleep, you are lucky to shower every couple of days. It's not some lovely vacation it is a physical necessity for recovery, and in a lot of places necessary because daycare won't take them until 6 weeks
I think everyone could really benefit from what she is suggesting. I think it's bullshit that she compares this to maternity leave, and I say that as a non-parent.
Opinions like this are why we can't have nice things. It's why the push for adequate maternity leave/paternity leave would be a huge problem here in the US, because of this entitled, why not me too whining.
What she is saying about time off is valid. But equating it to a maternity leave is plain wrong. It's not even remotely the same. And it does damage to the very real need we have for parental time off.
I mean...selfishly I wish this existed. It would allow me proper time to bond with a lot of TV shows. But realistically...no. I can't put finishing Breaking Bad in the same space as recovering from birthing a child, LOL.
Post by snipsnsnails on May 2, 2016 9:22:24 GMT -5
Until the general public (and lawmakers) understand that maternity leaves contribute to well-beings of families, which in turn contributes to the well-being of work cultures and society at large, ain't nothing gonna change.
The whole conversation is the old band aid approach when you need a tourniquet. : /
Fuck her. I worked during all three of my maternity leaves. So did my husband, during the 1 week he took off. And then I had to take care of my baby, nurse around the clock, not sleep, etc. It's not time OFF. I was fucking happy to come back to work because it meant finally having time for me, even if it was only my morning commute and lunch hour.
Maternity leave is not a time for reemerging refreshed for the depth of your soul or whatever bullshit she is spewing. It's a time to change shitty diapers and cry your eyes out.
I think talking about work-life balance and the pressure some of us feel in some industries to work long hours to the detriment of our personal lives is a valid conversation that needs to happen.
But to couch it in terms of being jealous of other peoples' maternity leave is ridiculous. And I think to suggest that women need this non-maternity leave any more than men do is contrary to a feminist mindset. Women can handle work stress equally as well as men.
Maternity leave is not a vacation and leaving work early to take care of your kids (and inevitably ending up on the computer after they go to bed to catch up) isn't a loophole into slackerhood. And she acts like every parent has a job that allows flexibility. She also fails to realize that her kid-free life affords her a ton of opportunities that many parents don't have, like the ability to spontaneously go out at night, use PTO for YOURSELF instead of a sick kid, etc etc etc.
In short, she's dumb.
ETA: I do agree that more companies should put more emphasis on a more predictable and flexible home/life balance, but the comparison to maternity leave absolutely pisses me off. It makes her sound like an entitled twat.
And for those of us who have flexibility, taking off early to take care of a sick kid just means sitting down at the computer for a few extra hours once your pukey kid is finally asleep.
And don't disagree that we need a national conversation about work-life balance but this is not the way to go about it.
100% agree with this. I am so jealous of my counterparts in Europe where thee expectation is take multi week vacations annually and they truly stick to working during only business hours.
I think everyone could really benefit from what she is suggesting. I think it's bullshit that she compares this to maternity leave, and I say that as a non-parent.
I agree with this. Call it a sabbatical, not "meternity".
Many companies will allow for an unpaid sabbatical, which is what maternity leave basically is for most people after short term disability runs out. There are many companies with no paid maternity leave. I think someone may need a reminder that part of maternity leave is medical related.
She could have a major surgery and get the same benefit, or injure herself badly enough that she gets granted 6-8 weeks of disability too. See how much fun that meternity leave is then.
I'm pretty sure most people would like the ability to take a sabbatical, and it would probably be good for people.
It's also not the same thing as parental leave, and it is really, really dumb to try to make that comparison.
"I may not have been changing diapers, but I grappled with self-doubt for the year and a half that I spent away from the corporate world." There's so much WTAF in just this one sentence. And show me where ANYONE in the US is getting a year and a half long parental leave.
Post by undecidedowl on May 2, 2016 9:30:30 GMT -5
"It seemed that parenthood was the only path that provided a modicum of flexibility"
Lol to parenthood=flexibility. This statement is not going to get any parents on her side.
I love the idea of a sabbatical but don't compare it to maternity leave unless you take it while sleeping in 2 hour chunks with a tiny screaming, pooping, brand new human to care for.
Post by thebreakfastclub on May 2, 2016 9:38:53 GMT -5
This woman was supposed to appear on Good Morning America last week. She cancelled at the last minute so they spent her time slot making fun of meternity leave.
What publisher thought this was a good idea and published it? How in the world is it being taken seriously enough to be a national conversation, even if that conversation is mostly ridicule?
Maternity leave is something that women who have given birth should have. I'm fully on board with that - and for a good long while (like in England). Work-life balance is also something EVERYONE should have and aspire to. But guess what, sunshine, life isn't fair and sometimes you have to work your ass off. Deal.
I don't feel like she knows what maternity leave is.
Seriously. My 65yo male CW once told me he wished he could have a maternity leave. I don't think he'd do so well with a baby constantly sucking his nipple and not sleeping.
I leave work earlier than some of my colleagues to pick up my child from daycare. You know what I'm doing from 8-11 pm every night? The work that I wasn't doing at 5 pm. So this writer can GFH.
OMG - so... I was curious where this book actually came from, so I googled, and apparently it's a novel - not a non-fiction book. The novel centers around the same ideas, but in the book the character actually fakes a pregnancy to get the time off. One of the reviews on Barnes & Noble says "I really liked this book and how Liz was able to keep a secret like this going for as long as she did." WHAT?!? How did this not piss every reader off as a glorification of sociopathic behavior?
I leave work earlier than some of my colleagues to pick up my child from daycare. You know what I'm doing from 8-11 pm every night? The work that I wasn't doing at 5 pm. So this writer can GFH.