Working Mother Rant
posted by Jen | 10:37 PM
When I came into my office yesterday, a couple of my co-workers were discussing the compatibility of pregnancy and working. My job is somewhat unusual in that there is a legitimate safety concern if a person has certain medical conditions. I have to pass a physical to be eligible to work. You wouldn't want someone passing out at a critical moment. Also, if someone were assigned as a team lead and then went into labor right before the mission, it would be inconvenient to say the least.
But, then they started debating whether a woman should accept a lead position if she were TRYING to get pregnant. I thought this was over the line. I mean, it takes some women years to conceive. I'm supposed to stop taking on responsibility at work for however long it may take to first get pregnant and then to have the baby and then to get back into the swing of things at work. I don't think so.
Of course, all this was starting to steam me a bit because the two people talking about it were, of course, men. Who did not have to face these issues when they started their families. It is going to be disruptive to my work when I have a baby, but I would hope that it could be minimized by not having to anticipate the event by 9+ months. And I firmly believe that women should not have to choose between career and family. If a woman wants to withdraw from her career life to have more time with her baby, great. But if she doesn't want to do so, she shouldn't be forced to.
Anyway, no doubt someone will point out that this topic hit home because I just may be contemplating a situation like this for myself in the not too distant future. Fine, guilty as charged. I would just like to point out though, that I only made a few moderate comments at work and saved the rant for my blog.
But, then they started debating whether a woman should accept a lead position if she were TRYING to get pregnant. I thought this was over the line. I mean, it takes some women years to conceive. I'm supposed to stop taking on responsibility at work for however long it may take to first get pregnant and then to have the baby and then to get back into the swing of things at work. I don't think so.
Of course, all this was starting to steam me a bit because the two people talking about it were, of course, men. Who did not have to face these issues when they started their families. It is going to be disruptive to my work when I have a baby, but I would hope that it could be minimized by not having to anticipate the event by 9+ months. And I firmly believe that women should not have to choose between career and family. If a woman wants to withdraw from her career life to have more time with her baby, great. But if she doesn't want to do so, she shouldn't be forced to.
Anyway, no doubt someone will point out that this topic hit home because I just may be contemplating a situation like this for myself in the not too distant future. Fine, guilty as charged. I would just like to point out though, that I only made a few moderate comments at work and saved the rant for my blog.
4 Comments:
I looked it up, and found these topics on pregnant pilots -- (since a flight control physical is basically an aviation medical):
http://www.leftseat.com/gestation.htm
http://www.avweb.com/news/aeromed/181801-1.html
http://www.nomi.med.navy.mil/Text/NAMI/WaiverGuideTopics/ObGyn.htm#11.6%20PREGNANCY
It seems most of the concerns are about specific risks associated with altitude and cramped cockpit spaces, neither of which are a problem on console. And neither of them have performance issues.
I'm sure it took a lot of restraint not to take those guys to task... Timing a pregnancy is one thing, but thinking that you have to let a perfectly normal, complication-free pregnancy interfere with your career is entirely different.
Hi Jen,
This topic really hits home with me. I really want to have a family, and it just strikes me as so totally unfair how incredibly difficult it is for a woman to have kids and work. There are so many things that could be done to make it easier - that would be win-win - that just aren't. The majority of the men I work with have kids, yet when the idea of having daycare at work was brought up, they were totally un-interested. I could really go on about this issue (and I probably will at some point.)
Hi, Jen.
I agree, most men just seem to not be interested in non-traditional solutions to this problem. We do have on-site daycare here, but there is a long waiting list. Additionally, it would be really nice if it was more centrally located instead of all the way on the edge of site. How great would it be if every building had a nursury on the 1st floor so that you could go see your children on lunch break!
In general, I tend to follow the philosophy of I'm going to tell my boss how I want it to be when we have kids. I won't worry about rejection of my ideas until it occurs, and if it does I'll find a way to work it out. It's amazing how when you assume the people won't have a problem with something, often they don't.
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