Family and Career: You Can’t Have It All

Re “At Home and Work, Still a Man’s World,” Commentary, Jan. 2: What Emily Bazelon and Judith Resnik describe is that you can’t have it all. It would be nice if one could have a full-blown career while still having time to raise a family. Unfortunately, we all live in the real world, where every decision we make has some consequences. In today’s business world, to keep on top of your competition and survive, the workplace is more demanding of one’s time, not less.

Not all, but many, of the women I know have actually “chosen” to give up careers for the job of raising their families. For them, having a career is not the end-all that Bazelon and Resnik would suggest. The “status quo” that they reference with disdain is, for some, the preferred lifestyle. If the feminist movement was about giving women a choice, that also means that if the choice is to opt out of the workforce for what they see as an equally rewarding path, feminists will have to respect that choice.

Bruce Goren

Los Angeles

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I found Bazelon and Resnik’s commentary very disturbing. While some of the facts presented may be true, and many working women have unequal opportunities in the workforce, there was not one mention about the impact of two working parents on children. The most disturbing and one-sided comment was, “When women exit from paid jobs and take on nearly all the work of the household, they reinforce the status quo.” It is this kind of comment that devalues parenthood and the importance of an ever-present mother or father at home with the children.

Our children should be everyone’s No. 1 priority, not just how much money you make or whether you are promoted this year to partner in a law firm.

Pamela Clark Armus

Temple City