Comments on: Has Dooce become the modern day June Cleaver?

By: Feminist Friday:Five Must Reads | women minds

Feminist Friday:Five Must Reads | women minds — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 23:51:31 +0000

[...] Has Dooce become the modern day June Cleaver? This post was written back in April 2009 but it’s so good that if you haven’t read it, [...]

By: Janine

Janine — Mon, 04 May 2009 18:31:24 +0000

I do think the media is focusing on women in traditional roles right now, but I find this no different than when the media focus was on women who had children and held down full time jobs. Back then all the daytime talk shows focused on that. The media tends to do this because they need a new something to talk about – I don’t think anyone is trying to push women back into a traditional role, they’re just looking for “trends” to report on ad nauseam.

I have a different view on this general topic however because back when I had small children, I WANTED to stay home with them and the societal pressure was to work outside the home. I did stay home, and it was difficult financially and socially. Many of my friends wished they could stay home too but for them it was financially impossible. I came to realize that while the women’s movement originally was all about choice for women , it appeared that the push to change women’s role’s resulted in the same number of women having no choice – only this time there was no choice but to be a working mom. And I know from my life experience, and talking with many mothers that plenty of them feel they are the ones doing it all – and they don’t like it one little bit.

I do agree with you, however that as much as we like to indulge in the fantasy that women are equal with men in the workforce it’s still a fact that women make 80 cents on every dollar a man makes. Right now most of the working women I know still have a job but their male partner/husband is laid off. Why? Because he had the larger salary. Now the women who are left after the layoffs can work even harder for the same (if not less with paycuts) than the men. And that makes me mad.

Perhaps it is just as simple as this – women who CHOOSE to be stay-at-home-mommies are finding ways to do so, whether it’s by working at home, making money on a blog or cutting expenses, and the media is showcasing them. And I am all for this because these women are not using their fifteen minutes of fame to make working mothers feel guilty or preach about how this is how it should be, they’re just being examples to the women who wish they could, but think it can’t be done.

By: Lisa Paul

Lisa Paul — Sun, 03 May 2009 18:45:59 +0000

Brava again! The Dooce/Digital Mom stereotype may be even more damaging than June Cleaver as it seems the Mommy Bloggers who are getting all the attention are the “I’m just hanging on by a thread” variety. You know, the ones who tell “cute” stories like how they didn’t bother to bathe their kids for three weeks because they just couldn’t handle it, then stuffed them in the Jacuzzi when it all got to be too much. At least June Cleaver had her act together and was always immaculately dressed in high heels and an ironed dress!

I actually know more Moms who are juggling career, several kids and doing it all beautifully although some struggles, but still with great competence. Those are the Moms I’d like to hear from, but apparently they don’t get the media attention.

By: chris/formerlyfun

chris/formerlyfun — Fri, 01 May 2009 15:17:42 +0000

I love this, just love it. I love it because as women, we do not critically analyze the images that are thrown at us by the media nearly enough. We don’t page through a fashion magazine remembering the strategic alliance between the cosmetics industry, the fashion industry, Hollywood and publishing. We forget that these magazines are designed to make money and make money best when we feel less than the pictures and then turn around and spend our hard earned money on the things they advertise. Sometime, this stuff is just entertainment but it also taken as a whole gives us a measuring stick to measure ourselves by and way too often it’s just the wrong stick. Thank you for digging deeper on this one.

By: Jennifer H

Jennifer H — Fri, 01 May 2009 14:23:48 +0000

You said so much of what I think about this. I am a mom, and a blogger, but I am not a mommyblogger. (It would be hard to read my blog and put it in that category, anyway) I know the term has brought a group of women some kind of marketing clout, but I do think there’s been a tradeoff. Maybe it works for those who have leveraged it monetarily, with some success, but like you said, at what cost?

The term “soccer mom” also rubs me the wrong way. I just hate the generalization of women in that way, as though just one thing defines us.

I only watched a small segment of Oprah’s show, but one thing I took away was that she brought on thin, middle and upper class women with blonde hair. As if mothers only look like that. And shame on her for that.