Voices
“You can recover lost time
on the job — but not in your
children’s lives.”
Let’s not downplay how difficult
many women find it to reenter the
workforce after a prolonged maternity leave. Patton may think
it’s worth it to lose years’ worth of
promotions and watch one’s qualifications become obsolete in order
to be home full-time for one’s children, but at least let’s give women
the straight facts and let them
decide whether they’d prefer to
remain in the workforce or accept
the massive professional setbacks
and stay home. Many women find
it’s close to impossible to gain a
foothold in their old profession,
especially in a position as senior as
the one they left to have children.
If you value your career as well as
your family, this is not as easy a
choice as Patton paints it to be.
“Girl, lose the weight!
I know it’s hard… just do it.”
Oh, okay. Guess it’s as simple as “just
doing it.” Super helpful, thanks!
“When she enters college,
your daughter will never again
be as young, as beautiful, as
attractive to men, or as fertile.
Encourage her to make the best
CLAIRE
FALLON
HUFFINGTON
03.16-23.14
use of this time.”
Parents, I beg of you: Do not tell
your college-aged daughters to hook
a husband before they grow too old
and ugly. Trust me, she knows she’s
enjoying the full bloom of youth,
and the guys she’ll meet at college will let her know how attractive they find her. When and if she
wants to get married, she’ll be able
to make that choice for herself. In-
Parents, I beg of you:
Do not tell your collegeaged daughters to hook a
husband before they grow
too old and ugly.”
stead, tell her she’s smart, capable,
and able to accomplish anything
she sets her mind to. Tell her to find
out who she is and how she wants
to spend her life before she focuses
on finding someone to share it with.
Tell her to learn how to be truly
self-reliant and never feel dependent on a man for support or fulfillment. Girls today need to hear these
things, from their parents
as much as anyone.
Claire Fallon is a books editor
at The Huffington Post.