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| Today's definition of "mom." |
The definition of being a woman has evolved greatly in the past fifty years. They do housework, take care of children, run errands, and work outside the home, creating an added stress when work takes time away from home.
A longitudinal study, conducted in 2005 and 2007, was led by professor Scott Schieman from the University of Toronto. The study was released in the March issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior and featured in an article from CTVNews.com. The study suggests that women have more difficulty with the flexibility of technology, which allows for continuous contact with work. Schieman said:
We found that there was an association between receiving work-related contact and guilt for women. We didn't find that association for men. And then we also found it for distress as well.
But the researchers did not find the same results among men. Though men may still feel stressed when work emails pop up on their BlackBerrys during off hours, they do not experience the same level of guilt as moms do. In a March 9th ABC News article, Dr. Samantha Meltzer-Brody, co-director of the perinatal psychiatry program at the University of North Carolina Center for Women's Mood Disorders, commented:
Meltzer-Brody has a point. Society still expects women to take care of the family, with or without children, work, be independent, and take care of the house. Technology can help women manage their time because tasks do not take as long and there is an option of working from home.A lot of this stress may also have to do with role perception. There's the notion that mothers should be at home caring for the child more so than fathers, who work to provide for the family. These are stereotypes, but these societal influences are still there.
However, some guilt doesn't have to be bad. A November 2011 article from stuff.co.nz said feeling guilt is a sign of responsibility. If I called in sick so I could go to a concert, I would feel guilty. I would feel responsible. Mothers who feel guilty about doing work outside of the office feel a responsibility for the well-being of their children. A little guilt is ok, but too much weighs on the health and happiness of the entire family.
Below are tips to regain balance between life and work.
- Tell your employer you are unavailable during non-working hours except in an emergency.
- Set a routine so you don't do any work at home unless your children are playing with friends or sleeping.
- Give yourself a half-hour to an hour to relax.
- Do a fun activity with your kids every day.
You did a very good job on your post. It kept me interested the entire time.
ReplyDeleteYour use of sources was very good and you use excellent block quotes. It definitely added to the post, giving us an example and more information to go off of.
I would have liked to have seen a little more multimedia used. The photo at the top is great, but I would have liked to have seen another photo or two to add a more visual appeal. A video would have also been nice, if you could find one. It would have added more information to your post.
For a future post, you could write about why men do not feel as guilty as women.
I liked that this post was very relevant to many people who would stumble upon it and read further. I would imagine, after reading the information you provided, mothers that feel the stress and guilt you discuss may feel comforted that they are not alone. The tips you provided at the end were great also, even if a reader just skimmed your article they would still take part of (maybe the most important part) away with them if they heed your advice.
ReplyDeleteI feel stretched to find find something to note for improvement, bu it seemed as though you switched from women in general to mothers somewhere in the piece, perhaps because they have the additional stresses causing the guilt, but it would have been interesting to note the guilt in women without children or who aren’t married. Personally I feel torn by my technology, even though I am just a student without kids and without anyone aside from myself to tend to. Maybe that is something you could delve into in future posts.
I enjoyed reading your post. The thing that kept going through my head the whole time I was reading it was what about men who do the housework, take care of the children, and run errands, and work outside the home? I know there are few of those Mr. mom’s out there. Or why don’t men feel as stressed as women do when their work emails pop up on their BlackBerrys? I did enjoy your section where you list some tips, then you link additional tips below that. I do agree with Bobbie when she said that you could use a little more multimedia. However, other than that great post, it kept my attention and makes me want to read more.
ReplyDeleteGood blog post this week. You have strong sources and have a great use of block text quotes. Your blog seems to cover a lot of ground in a small amount of time. But perhaps a future blog for you could be how more men are staying at home to take care of the kids and the women are out in the workforce full time, so in some cases there is a role reversal and you could explore if stay at home dads use the same technology in the same way as stay at home moms to manage a household. But I found a few spell-check errors, for example "If I called in sick FOR SO I could go to a concert, I would feel guilty." and you have an extra T in weighs. But other than that great blog this week!
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