I guess I would be called a Hybrid Mom, but I am cautious to label any mom because of her work-with-income status. I feel that these labels perpetuate the "mommy wars" (I question the existence of this "war" in daily life, as it is more a category to sell books and magazines and products).
Susan, I know your SHARE was about your personal story, and I think it sounds wonderful what you are doing. Similarly, Hybrid mom.com does sound positive and is probably a wonderful resource for many women. However, I'm not sure how to say this, but some of the verbage in your article sounds like you may be unwittingly putting down women who choose not to work-for-income, who are at peace and fulfilled by raising their children without also finding a career or job. When you say we're best when we're helping others...do you mean through a job or career (as it sounds this way), or does this also include our children as the "others"? When you write that you are searching for something...then find it through a job and are happy that you are now a "hybrid mom", it implies that this is a step-up from "just" a stay-at-home mom.
There are just so many moms out there who are in different life circumstances, different cultures and different experiences that to label us as "SAHM" or "Hybrid" or "WAHM" or "working mom" or "career mom" is too limiting, and serves no real purpose but to make ourselves feel better about our choices (or lack of choices).
I actually read a very interesting book about motherhood, The Help, and an article called, Ain't I a Mommy, with the description, "Bookstores [Magazines and Websites] Brim with Motherhood Memoirs. Why Are So Few of Them Penned by Women of Color?" It provides another aspect of motherhood that I thought was absolutely fascinating (if you are not offended by the title of the magazine).
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I guess I would be called a Hybrid Mom, but I am cautious to label any mom because of her work-with-income status. I feel that these labels perpetuate the "mommy wars" (I question the existence of this "war" in daily life, as it is more a category to sell books and magazines and products).
Susan, I know your SHARE was about your personal story, and I think it sounds wonderful what you are doing. Similarly, Hybrid mom.com does sound positive and is probably a wonderful resource for many women. However, I'm not sure how to say this, but some of the verbage in your article sounds like you may be unwittingly putting down women who choose not to work-for-income, who are at peace and fulfilled by raising their children without also finding a career or job. When you say we're best when we're helping others...do you mean through a job or career (as it sounds this way), or does this also include our children as the "others"? When you write that you are searching for something...then find it through a job and are happy that you are now a "hybrid mom", it implies that this is a step-up from "just" a stay-at-home mom.
There are just so many moms out there who are in different life circumstances, different cultures and different experiences that to label us as "SAHM" or "Hybrid" or "WAHM" or "working mom" or "career mom" is too limiting, and serves no real purpose but to make ourselves feel better about our choices (or lack of choices).
I actually read a very interesting book about motherhood, The Help, and an article called, Ain't I a Mommy, with the description, "Bookstores [Magazines and Websites] Brim with Motherhood Memoirs. Why Are So Few of Them Penned by Women of Color?" It provides another aspect of motherhood that I thought was absolutely fascinating (if you are not offended by the title of the magazine).
September 20, 2009 - 7:27pmThis Comment
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