There was much talk a couple weeks ago about Paige Craig’s article on his hesitancy to invest in a cool company called Profounder because cofounder Jessica Jackley was pregnant. His confession drew a lot of criticism and outrage while others applauded him for his candor and courage in admitting his prejudice.
Jessica wrote a fantastic public response which discussed parenting, working, startups, what it takes to run a company, and the vision for profounder overall.
“From the start, ProFounder was created to make sure anyone could be empowered to pursue their dreams through entrepreneurship. Together with my investors, we agreed on strategies and goals, key milestones, etc. I promised them our team would work its hardest to meet these goals, and we’ve been doing so ever since. I never did, and never would, promise them that I wouldn’t fall in love, get married, have a family at some pt. Why would I? Who in their right mind would actually ask this of a person? And what would it even mean to keep a promise like that?”
Jessica also questioned whether this investor (or others) would have the same concern for an ‘expectant father’. She guessed not.
As a woman, entrepreneur, and mother my blood pressure surged just reading this article and I was amused and slightly annoyed about how quickly and rampantly it blanketed twitter (although I did also RT and comment on it). My internal monologue about women and work, and expectations and assumptions of working moms was boiling over. Then I saw a post (via Cali Yost) about a man who was denied acceptance to an MBA program because he was the sole care giver for his son. The man was understandably upset and asked if the same limitations would be applied to women.
I was equally annoyed about this man’s situation. How paternalistic of this admissions officer to decide what was best for the applicant’s family! What does this action say about them as a school? And most importantly, it made me ask, why do we hate parents so much? or is it the kids we dislike?
It’s clear that work & family is no longer just a women’s issue but a societal one. There have been great thinkers working to de-gender this issue for some time, Cali Yost among them, but it seems we still have a lot to learn! Instead of constantly relegating work/life issues as women’s burden/responsibility, we should ask ourselves how we either support or challenge this problematic coupling. What are our own assumptions about productivity and competence? What constitutes a valuable contribution for society? How do we evaluate success? How do we, as a society, construct work lives that are fulfilling and sustainable? What do we want for ourselves now and in the future? What do we wish for others? What do we want society to look like?
These questions seem particularly important in a day in age where we have a tremendous amount of freedom and flexibility in how work is structured, thanks in large part to technological advances. Work/life research continually finds the benefits of flexibility and supportive work/life policies and attitudes in terms of both financial return and overall satisfaction (examples here and here). Nevertheless, there are many of us who still question the ability of people to simultaneously parent and produce professionally. C’mon people…let’s consider the big picture here. Let’s stop undervaluing the personal lives of those we work with and for, challenge our own assumptions, push for healthy organizational policies, and encourage good role models in the media and popular business culture.
-Adelaide
