Ever since I was young, it seems like having a family is the ultimate goal for women. Yes, a career is important, but it needs to be put on the backburner so you can focus on starting a family. Yes, a career is important, but you need to become a stay-at-home mom as soon as you have your first kid. Yes, a career is important, but it should never come first.
I disagree completely. My ultimate goal in life is not to be the perfect soccer mom for my kids, or to be the wife that cooks and cleans while my husband is at work. Honestly, I don’t even want kids at all. My goal is to have a career that I can put my heart and soul into, and become successful in a field that I love.
Now, this isn’t meant to criticize the women that do want to have lots of kids and stay home from work to take care of them. I have so much respect for those women. Being a mom is one of the hardest jobs in the world. You have a whole person depending on you to take care of them and shape them so they can take on the world, and that’s not to mention all the dirty diapers, nights spent crying instead of sleeping, and misbehaving. It’s just not the life I want.
Instead of criticizing those women, I want to criticize how society deems that as the only acceptable role for a woman. CEOs and stay-at-home moms deserve the same amount of respect. Women aren’t heartless for not wanting kids, and they aren’t week for not wanting to work their whole life. As long as every woman is happy with the life they chose for themselves, it shouldn’t matter if it fits into societies mold of what women should be.
It’s 2018, and it’s time that we stop judging other women. We need to look out for each other and lift the girls around us up instead of bringing them down. It’s hard enough to be a woman without being told you can’t have a career, or shouldn’t stay at home with your kids. Let’s focus on spreading positivity, because we’re all working hard for the life we want.