Forget "having it all"
Subtitle: how America messed up motherhood--and how to fix it
By: by Amy Westervelt
Edition: First edition.
Publisher: Seal Press
Published: 2018
Language: eng
Number of pages: 309
ISBN-13: 9781580057868
Subjects: Motherhood; Working mothers; Stay-at-home mothers; Feminism; Work and family
Description: Examines the history of American ideas about motherhood, how those ideas have impacted all women whether or not they have children, and calls for changes in workplace policies, cultural norms, and personal attitudes about motherhood.

"After filing a story for a journalism assignment only two hours after giving birth, Amy Westervelt had a revelation: we treat mothers like crap in this country. From inadequate maternity leave to gender-based double standards, emotional labor to the wage gap, and the racist devaluing of some mothers to the overvaluing of others, Westervelt became determined to understand how we got here and how the promise of 'having it all' even became a thing when it was so far from reality. Now, Westervelt traces the roots of our problems to our nation's founding and through the changing roles of men and women since. Some discoveries may be surprising--the expectations placed on mothers have shifted wildly throughout our history (in early colonial days, for example, women were not trusted with much childrearing)--others less so (systemic racism has kept the country from learning important lessons from non-white American mothers). Westervelt draws out what we should replicate from our past (the origin of Mother's Day, for example, was a dedicated day for mothers to organize just as laborers had done) and what to scrap entirely. Ultimately, Westervelt presents a measured, historically backed call for workplace policies, cultural norms, and personal attitudes about motherhood that will radically improve the lives of not just working moms but every American."--Dust jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 264-293) and index.
Table of contents: title: Being a mother shouldn't suck; title: Pioneer women; title: Birthing a nation; title: The industrial revolution and the division of labor; title: Scientific motherhood and modern reproduction; title: From Rosie the Riveter to the 1950s housewife; title: Second-wave feminism; title: Opting out, leaning in, and falling over; title: The fertility-industrial complex; title: The patriarchs; title: Redefining "it all".