Working Moms

In today's society, working mothers are a common topic. Over the past couple of decades, the number of women entering the workforce has substantially increased, and many of those women have children of their own. Recent statistics show that nearly three quarters of American moms are employed, but about 41 percent of people don't think this is a good thing. In the media, working  mothers are portrayed in both a positive and negative light. For the majority of the time, these women are portrayed positively because of the increase in women's rights and the feminine movement, but not such much when in LDS settings. In the worldly setting, working moms are admired and appreciated. They are the ones who know how to conquer all. In the church setting, many argue that women should stay at home. They should be with their children and take care of the house while the men go to work and "bring home the bacon". As time moves forward, the scrutiny of mothers working while raising their children is lessening. 

In the past, women have been viewed as helpless and basically useless, except when it came to cooking, cleaning, and raising babies. 

Now-a-days, working mothers are turning into the social norm.

Whether a woman's decision to work is out of necessity or desire, they are more openly accepted and even admired.

As a famous fashion blogger and mother, Amber Fillerup has a little boy and is pregnant with her second child. Her husband quit his job to help Fillerup focus on her blog and career, and is now basically her constant personal photographer. Even though Fillerup doesn't go to an office every day, her blog is followed by hundreds of thousands of people, and the work never stops.

This video is titled "Desire to Inspire". Five different women were interviewed about how they started their business while being a mom, and how it came to be. A few of the women interviewed are LDS, and this video shed a positive light on these women who are successful business owners, as well as loving mothers. 

Blog post on working mother dealing with the guilt of having a career
This link connects to a blog post about a mother who has learned to balance being a mom and having a career. With the pressure of being a perfect mother, she explains how she has dealt and coped with the guilt of not being home all the time for her children.

Analysis

   A single story for working mothers in this day and age is that they are to be appreciated and admired. It is recognized that mothers that raise their children while working push themselves and deserve respect for doing so. This is the message that current media sends about these women. It's amazing to me how through time, the ideas and opinions of not only women in general, but women in the workforce who also have kids at home has so drastically changed. Especially in the church, even though the majority of members still believe that a women's place is with her children, the judgement of those who choose a different path is lessening. 

  Messages about how inspiring these women are are constantly being sent through the media. The artifacts that convey these messages are almost always shown in a positive light. The women who are famous that are working mothers have many supportive followers. No media channel would risk giving out a negative opinion about these women because they know that they would lose the respect of many customers/followers. As shown in these pictures above, as well as the video, the strategies used to portray these women are light, emotional, and inspiring. 

   The single story is limited in some ways. I agree that these women that work full-time jobs while raising children is to be respected and admired, but I also believe that a mother that chooses not to work and stay at home with her children deserves the same amount of respect. Sometimes, women who are in the work force are criticized for not spending enough time with their children, but stay-at-home moms are criticized for being submissive and not working as hard as other moms. The social implications for this group is that one way to parent is better than the other, which isn't necessarily true. Everyone has different circumstances in their lives that influence the decisions made, such as choosing to work or not with children at home. 

   The artifacts that I chose showed how society has broadened their horizons regarding what women can and cannot do. Even though the subject of a working mom will probably always remain slightly controversial in one way or another, it's important to see how moms that work can be just as good of moms that stay at home, and vice-versa. These pictures and videos that I shared show that women deserve to be respected, and it doesn't matter which way they choose to raise their children in these circumstances. I think that the pressure to make the perfect parenting decision is harsh on all mothers, and these media tools to show people different point of views can be so beneficial. It's hard for everyone, especially mothers in general to not feel minimized by the scrutiny and opinion of others, but it's goo to realize that there are more than one way to do things successfully.