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"Opting Out" discussion reaches the tipping point

May 24, 2007
A number of new books have revived the conversation about the "opt-out" phenomenon of women leaving the workforce to focus on family caregiving, and their efforts to build "on-ramps" back to work. I appeared on The Today Show right before Mother's Day to discuss this issue, which has been relevant to my work as Mojo Mom. It was a challenge to get my message out on a large panel that included New York Times reporter Lisa Belkin, The Feminine Mistake author Leslie Bennetts, and psychologist Gail Saltz. I am proud to report that I accomplished my major goal of endorsing MomsRising.org on air. Watch the video I acknowledge that "Opting out" is a controversial topic, for good reason. Even among married mothers of preschoolers, the group we'd peg as prime "opt out" candidates, 70% are in the workforce. It has been argued that the minority of privileged women who take "off-ramps" receive a disproportionate share of the media spotlight. MomsRising is aware of this dynamic and is consciously striving to make our Open, Flexible Work platform widely applicable to all mothers. The quality of the opt-out discussion has been elevated by several recent books and articles that I'd like to recommend. [more]
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Mojo Mom -- Amy Tiemann
MomsRising MomsRising Near You

MomsRising Lemonade Stand and Bake Sale Tips!

May 23, 2007
HAVE FUN, RAISE SOME MONEY, AND HELP SPREAD THE MOMSRISING MESSAGE * PICK A PLACE & TIME – Pick a time and a place where you’ve got a guaranteed crowd to entice with your goods. Options may include: a local parade route, a busy local park, a local fair, or even a busy street corner. Feel free...
MomsRising Together
Ashley Boyd's picture
Ashley Boyd

Alissa's Tale

May 20, 2007
There was an interesting discussion in the comments section on a post I wrote earlier this month on health care wondering how we can address the health care crisis we face in our country, especially when it comes our children.
MomsRising Together
PunditMom's picture
Joanne Bamberger

What Hope Is There for the Rest of Us?

May 17, 2007
My heart sank when I saw this article on the front page of The Washington Post. "Michelle Obama's Career Time Out." Front page coverage presenting her as a high profile victim of the balancing/opt-out discussion.
MomsRising Together
PunditMom's picture
Joanne Bamberger

Mistakes? Wrong Question

May 16, 2007
First off, I had a fabulously fun time this Monday appearing with Kristin on KALW radio in San Francisco. She's totally inspiring, spot-on with numbers and statistics, and well, just a pleasure to be on air with. In our blog format here, I feel like I should be waving down (hi Kristin!) to her on her entry, just below. I've been lightly following the debates over Feminine Mistake. Can't help but think that while the NY-based intelligentsia is debating what mothers should be doing, MomsRising was out in force in Washington State, putting on the pressure to pass paid family leave.
MomsRising Together
Miriam

My A-Ha moment: Cracking the Privilege Code

May 14, 2007
The Today Show segment I appeared on this past Saturday flew by in an instant, but I was proud that I did get to mention MomsRising.org. Preparing for the segment gave me a chance revisit everything I've been reading and thinking over the past few years. I wrote a blog post today to pull it all together. I want to give credit to all the brilliant women who have been writing about motherhood. We are all busy working it out for ourselves as we go along and now we are gathering into a movement here at MomsRising. I do think there is a significant generational shift, which is what I write about in my blog post Cracking the Privilege Code. It was interesting to come away feeling that the path we are carving out is more radical than I had realized.
MomsRising Together
Mojo Mom -- Amy Tiemann

Tune in to PBS on Mother's Day!

May 13, 2007
Happy Mother's Day and Happy Birthday! This Mother's Day marks the first birthday of MomsRising. Celebrate by watching the Motherhood Manifesto on PBS this weekend (Find out when it's airing in your area at: www.momsrising.org/PBS ). As we celebrate our first birthday, we're also celebrating passing the 90,000 members mark--and that we are growing by 500 to 1,000 members per week lately. This growth is mostly happening through friends telling friends. So, THANK YOU for telling your friends about MomsRising and making us the strong organization we are today!
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Kristin's picture
Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner

Women: A Celebration of Strength

May 5, 2007
Our friends at Legal Momentum - a legal advocacy group working on women's issues - have just released a new book that celebrates women's achievements. It's called Women: A Celebration of Strength and believe it or not it’s a pop-up book (but it's not just for kids!).
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Catherine

Becoming Fearless: MomsRising on the MotherTalk Blog Tour

April 27, 2007
Today's the first time we've included MomsRising on a MotherTalk Blog Tour , and it's fitting that the book is Arianna Huffington's Becoming Fearless , her excursion into what stops us women in our tracks, and what life looks like when we meet fear where it is, toss it to the wind, and figure out what the hell we want in life and how to get it.
MomsRising Together
Miriam

We Can Do It! (And we did!)

April 26, 2007
We did it! Washington just became the second state in the nation to pass Paid Family Leave this past Tuesday when the Governor signed the bill into law. And this is all because of YOU, the members of MomsRising, and our policy partner organizations! But, we're not stopping with Washington--we're working to roll paid family leave across the country, and American families are counting on us. (Read about how we won with quotes from members and legislators, and sign a thank you letter, in the text below.)
MomsRising Together
Kristin's picture
Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner

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