by Trina L. Grant

Created on: October 01, 2009

The Women's Liberation Movement made colossal advancements in securing equal pay and equal rights in the workplace. However powerful a force as women's lib may have been, it can't stop a biological clock. Therein lies the rub. Women are still one step behind in the corporate world, even now in the wake of women's liberation. Since they first began to burn their bras, women have continually demanded and gained footholds for equal rights in the workplace and society. However, it is still common knowledge that women make less money than their male counterparts, have to work harder for promotions, and of course, the sad fact remains there is still the antiquated notion of women 'sleeping' their way to the top.

It is no wonder then, a new trend began to take shape in the 1980s, as women began to put aside family plans for career plans. Rare few were the corporate giants who carried a briefcase in one hand and a diaper bag in the other. Women who had worked hard to build careers and had 'paid their dues' in a man's world were loathe to risk it all to have a baby. In the twenty-some-odd years thence, legal advancements such as the Family Medical Leave Act have inimitably increased women's opportunities to have careers while still raising families. However, in Western society, most notably in the United States, women are still viewed as the nurturers and caregivers. They are the ones who are expected to stay home with a sick child. They are the parent who faces putting their career on the backburner.

There will always be a choice for women to make when it comes to family versus career, whatever laws are established and political correctness ensues. For an interval of about seven to eight weeks, a woman must commit herself, at least physically, to an absence from the workplace. Some women do not see this as a remote possibility, and could not imagine sacrificing their hard-won career merits to drag around a child. They might see themselves as strong and independent, and fear a child would only make them vulnerable and drag them down.

Some women will choose to have a modicum of each part of life, a chance to have children and still work. Yet, they too will have to make sacrifices. They will have to leave their children in the care of someone else for the better part of the day, unless their job is the rare occupation that allows them to have their child nearby. There will inevitably be a time when she is forced to leave work for a medical emergency, no matter how prolific her list of babysitters may be. Still, variances in life situations may require some women to work in order to be able to afford to have children. Some women will make the ultimate career sacrifice and walk away from it all to raise children. These women find fulfilment in the appreciation they receive from their little ones. They no longer need the validation they sought as they ran the 'rat race'. Perhaps these women's lives are those most affected by motherhood. They become completely different people, in a new world, with new rules and procedures.

Motherhood is a permanent state of life that permeates every element of a woman's life, whether she realizes it or not. Whether they choose to eschew the idea of motherhood all together, make concessions to have a little of both worlds, or devote their lives completely to their families and walk away from the corporate world, women have the unenviable task of balancing the concerns of running the world with populating it.

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