motherhood

In my job as a lawyer, I have ordinarily been the one giving advice to immigrant women. As a mother, though, I was the one in the position to receive consejos, to learn from stories of the women I represented, thereby strengthening my sense of self as a mother. Their voices, stories, struggles and wisdom have shaped my life, and my identity as a feminist.

To say that my previous neighborhood was diverse is an understatement.

A Guest Blog for Moms Rising by Pamela Tanner Boll

How do women continue to do work they feel called to do while not turning their backs on their families? How do they sustain their efforts? What do those efforts mean for their children, their families, and their communities? Why are women still whipsawed between giving to others and developing their own skills?

“You say you want a revolution?” is the theme of an international gathering in Toronto this month, where a grassroots movement to give voice and power to the mothers of the world is poised to come of age. The founder of the “rock ‘n roll” wing of the movement tells us what it’s all about.

Crossposted from Playground Revolution

The New Republic last week published an essay about three books on motherhood with the inane title: "Mommies, Mommies, Mommies: Meow Mix."

I'm not making this up. I couldn't make up a title with such a high cringe factor if my life depended on it.

I won't link to it, because, a, you have to subscribe to TNR to get to it, and b, because if all of us smart annoyed moms start clicking their website, they win. Their hit numbers go up and yes, that's good for them. Mother snark has become a tried and true way for magazines and newspapers to ride our rage and rack up sales. We must resist. Glance at a copy on a newstand, then announce loudly to everyone in hearing range that this magazine is snarky and mean to mothers. But don't buy it. Sadly, I've already been in contact with an editor at TNR who seems to think it was a fine piece, and funny. She didn't respond to my charge that their standard for journalism on women's issues is astoundingly lower than their standard for covering other issues in the magazine. She sidestepped it. Snark is clearly okay when it comes to us gals, especially gals with kids at their side.

Back a long time ago at Playground Revolution I blogged about my friend Liz. Liz runs the PA Housing Alliance, an organization in Pennsylvania devoted to finding more and better housing for people with low incomes. Liz is very smart and very serious about her work. One night when a bunch of us were doing our usual political rants over dinner, she excused herself to go hang out with the kids. When she returned, she simply announced that she has little truck for political rants that go nowhere. She named a powerful local politician in our city, a man known both for hardball tactics and getting the job done. “Vince Fumo plays to win,” she said. “We need to play to win, too.”