Deborah Fallows's Essay 'Mothers Should Stay Home'

As a young child, I was certain that I wanted to be a mother and I’m proud to say that I now have two beautiful, healthy children. My sister, however, was certain that she did not ever want to have children and to this day she does not. Does this mean that she is not fulfilling a responsibility of some kind? Absolutely not! My daughter, at just eight years old tells me that she never wants to have children; my response to her is always the same, “it’s okay.” If my daughter doesn’t want to have children, I respect that choice and hope that she will never feel pressure to do otherwise because of an archaic societal expectation.
If a woman decides to not be a mother or if her life circumstances have not allowed it, this does not make her less
Be it for a career, travel, health, finances, life experiences, the list goes on, whatever the reason is that a person, man or woman, would chose to not be a parent, they should never be asked to explain themselves or apologize. They should never be made to feel guilty or inadequate. In the essay, Why Mothers Should Stay Home, Deborah Fallows writes about an encounter that she had with another woman her own age. As told by Fallows, this other woman was career driven and didn’t have children; Fallows writes, “I should have felt sorry for her, not because of her own choice but because she had no sense that a choice exists – waiting to be made by women like her and like me. The choice is not to be either a career woman or a dumb housewife. The issue is one that she, a woman at the age when careers take off and childbearing ability nears its eleventh hour, should be sensitive to and think about.” While Fallows’ article is about her perception of how mothers should be raising their children, this one passage is directed toward another woman who is not a mother. Fallows speaks of choice, but makes the mistake of assuming that all women want to be