Tag Archives: stay at home mom

What’s A “Stay-At-Home Girlfriend”?

Jessica WakemanFebruary 22, 2011 //

Linkbait — (noun), an article written online for the sole purpose of trying to draw traffic.

You’ve heard of stay-at-home-moms — now it’s time to meet a “stay-at-home-girlfriend.” Writing on the Brooklyn-based blog Brokelyn, blogger Quiana Stokes described how she recently lost her job and is now a “stay-at-home-girlfriend” in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, playing house and having the roast ready for her boyfriend when he comes home. Feminist bloggers are abuzz with Quiana’s “stereotypically Stepfordish rules,” like picking up after her boyfriend when he gets dressed in the morning, cooking dinner every night, keeping up her hair and nails, and fixing his favorite cocktails when he comes home from a hard day’s work.

Now, I’m going to say something that might surprise you about this proto-Betty Draper: frankly, I don’t think the article is that offensive. Keep reading »

Today’s Lady News: You Mean Everyone Can’t Afford To Be A Stay-At-Home Mom?

Jessica WakemanFebruary 14, 2011 //
  • While cutting funding for a Head Start program for disadvantaged preschoolers, elected officials in Frederick County, Maryland, made appallingly ignorant comments about how their own wives took time off of work to stay home with their kids when they were young, so why can’t other moms? [TDB.com]
  • A subcommittee of Iowa’s state House of Representatives approved a bill that would define life as beginning at conception and ban all abortions, including in cases of rape or incest. [Chicago Tribune]
  • Double X argues that the lack of female engineers cannot be attributed to sexism. I know we have some lady engineers who read The Frisky, so I’d love to hear what you have to say about this post in the comments. [Slate]
  • Is it possible to celebrate Valentine’s Day in a — dare I say it? — feminist way? [Ms. Magazine]

Keep reading »

Today’s Lady News: The Regrets Of A Stay-At-Home Mom

Jessica WakemanJanuary 6, 2011 //
  • These are the regrets of a stay-at-home mom who “opted out” of the workforce, got divorced, and is now broke. For anyone who would eventually like to stay at home and raise some babies, this is a must-read. [Salon.com]
  • Beth Ditto of The Gossip is writing a memoir! Yay! [Vogue IT]
  • A Kentucky Senate committee OK’d a bill that would require a woman to view an ultrasound of her fetus before having an abortion. They call it “informed consent”; I call it somewhat cruel, depending on the circumstances. [Courier-Journal.com]
  • Sorta-feminist Naomi Wolf now has a (fake) Twitter account. [Twitter]

Keep reading »

A Stay-At-Home-Dad: Status Symbol, Mr. Mom, Babysitter … Or Parent?

Jessica WakemanAugust 10, 2010 //

There are many names you could call a stay-at-home dad who raises the young’uns while wifey brings home the bacon. “Mr. Mom.” The babysitter. Or, according to Marie Claire magazine, a status symbol — the beta husband of the “alpha mom.”

One stay-at-home dad, however, has a different label he would like you to use. This morning, “The Today Show” interviewed a pediatrician mother and her husband, the full-time parent of their toddler daughter. This proud papa was frankly disgusted that traditional stay-at-home mommies at the playground have asked him, “Oh, are you babysitting today?”

“No it’s not babysitting,” he sniffed. “It’s called parenting.” Keep reading »

Today’s Lady News: Senate Candidate Says Stay-At-Home Parenting Is “Right” Thing To Do

Jessica WakemanAugust 6, 2010 //
  • Sharron Angle, a U.S. Senate candidate for Nevada, has said that having one parent staying at home with children is the “right” and “acceptable” thing to do. Gee, I wonder which gender she’s talking about?! A group of Las Vegas working moms wondered the same thing and recently held an event to denounce Angle and throw their support behind Sen. Harry Reid. [Las Vegas Sun]
  • A former middle school student who claimed teasing at school lead her to develop anorexia has settled her federal lawsuit against the Pittsburgh Public Schools. The girl, identified as “B.G.,” said she was harassed every day beginning in 6th grade by three boys who told her she was fat and ugly. Once, when she began to cry in class from the abuse, “B.G.” said, she was sent to the guidance counselor’s office where she was told the boys must be flirting. In 7th grade, two more boys joined in on the teasing and she developed anorexia. That same year, “B.G.” eventually told her mother about what was going on. The girl’s mother said she was never notified about the teasing, even though school administrators were aware it was going on. The settlement is for $55K, plus the cost of mediation. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]

Keep reading »

Sexism Still Pays Off For Men

SimchaSeptember 24, 2008 //

Growing up, my mom and dad shared the responsibility of bringing home the bacon…well, the proverbial bacon — we’re Jewish. Anyway, my mom was a realtor and good at her job, but I’ll never forget her main competitor. His wife didn’t work and he was a jerk, the kind of guy who used too much hair grease and put his cheesy head shot up at bus stops. While my mother kept me in enriching after school programs, this other slick Realtor dude would scam his clients for sympathy by dragging his son around to meetings. One particular prospective female client even told my mother she was going to go with this guy because he was really his family’s breadwinner. Puke — that’s some serious girl-on-girl crime! I was always proud of my mama for Mary Tyler Moore-ing it up in the face of sexist foolishness, but apparently this chauvinist realtor isn’t the only man who has cashed in on close-mindedness.

Keep reading »