The Supermom

Article 1: New Zealand Press Association. August 28, 2006, Monday.
Headline: Stay-At-Homes Mums Have Right Idea
The facts that are presented in the article were collected through a survey conducted by a lead researched, Professor Phil Gendall of Massey Univeristy in New Zealand. A survey was conducted to gather information regarding the opinion of working mothers. I do not believe there is enough sufficient information to base the concluding arguments in the article. 1300 people were surveyed but the article never states who or where theses 1300 people were gathered from. It is unclear whether this polling group is diverse enough to draw conclusions from. The author is arguing that both the mother and the father need to share the responsibility of the housework so that they can both maintain careers.

Article 2: National Review. December, 4, 2006, Monday.
Headline: Women Know Best Why They’re Not CEOs
Byline: Carrie Lukas
The facts that are presented in this article are based off of other reporting news stories and current events that are occurring in our nation. Information was collected from other stories in sources like Newsweek and Harvard Business Journal. The author also reports on events occurring like Nancy Pelosi being sworn in, and Senator Hilary Clinton being the probable democratic candidate to draw her conclusions from. The ideology that corporate America does not allow women to follow through with their careers helps guide the article along.

Article 3: Essence. August 2006.
Headline: Making Time For Your Child
Byline: Lashieka Purvis Hunter
The article is written as an advice style piece that presents women of color solutions to be a mom and balance a career. There are numerous facts presented in the article but the only sources listed are two other authors that seem to be experts on this topic. The article is presented under the idea that a woman can easily balance motherhood and a career if she follows the advice of the author in the article. The article solely focuses on the role of the mother in the child’s life, instead of both parents.

Article 4: The Daily News of Los Angeles. September 24, 2006, Sunday.
Headline: Working Moms Become the Boss; Mompreneurs Start Businesses to Juggle Work and Kids
Bylone: Barbara Correa
The article discusses working women and their ability to balance a business and motherhood. The author conducted several interviews of a variety of women who have started their own businesses to better balance work and family. Several surveys were also conducted nationwide regarding mothers and their desire to maintain a career.

Article 5: Scripps Howard News Service. September 28, 2006, Thursday 1:52 PM EST.
Headline: Note to Feminists: Women Have Never Had It So Good
Byline: Betsy Hart
The facts in this article have been collected from the Wall Street Journal and reports from the National Organization for Women. The information seems to be pretty trustworthy. It’s not fair for women, unfairness and gaps still exist.

Conclusion:
The main debates and issues tackled in all five articles center around the idea that women are trying to maintain a career and still be a mom. Today, more than ever, women are trying to do it all: maintain a healthy balance between work and family, public and private sector. If today’s modern woman can do it all, fulfill both jobs, than she is deemed successful. However, so many road blocks still persist today against women trying to do the impossible. Women are still not taken as seriously as men in corporate America. They are placed on “The Mommy Track” and the gender wage gap still persists. Women find the choice between a career and motherhood to be a tough one, and more often than not, they revert back to their role in the household.
It seems like the authors throw in a few facts to support their arguments. All of the articles were either editorials or very subjective towards the point they were driving home. None of the articles presented massive surveys, data, charts, to support their arguments. Most relied on a few hand-selected interviews and personal experience and opinion. I found it interesting that four out of the five articles were written by women, the first article from New Zealand has an unknown author. Perhaps this means that solely women are interested in this topic because it is a crossroads that almost every woman faces. In most of the articles, the authors generalize the female gender into one category. However, there are always exceptions to every stereotype, to every conclusion drawn. Women of different ethnicities, ages, social class, economic status will vary greatly in their decision to work or not to work as a mother.