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The Battle of Stay-at-Home Moms and Working Mothers

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The Battle of Stay-at-Home Moms and Working Mothers
Michalski 1
Hannah Michalski
Mr. Regetz
ENGL 1301
27 October 2014

Battle of Stay at Home Moms and Working Mothers
It used to be the battle of the sexes: Now it’s the battle of the moms. Some moms believe it’s best to spend quality time with their children because it’s damaging being away from their from their kids for a minimum of the day. Others tend to think their children will be just as well off if they’re out at work all day and bringing home the paychecks. Friedersdorf and Adshade arrive at competing definitions for working and nonworking mothers. Whereas Adshade’s article focuses on nonworking mothers and their benefits, Friedersdorf’s article describes the defenses of a stay at home mom.
Friedersdorf defines stay at home moms as a great status. Being a mom in general is a “job”. So many women and men have an unrealistic view of a nonworking mother. Friedersdorf says, “[w]e tend to portray stay at home moms as either unmotivated, depressed, uneducated or the easy way of life, wealthy or married to a wealthy man” (Friedersdorf). Disagreeing with this statement, she believes it is just a stereotype and women’s values as a parent are much higher. Stereotypes can be misleading and judging a mother on the base of her husband’s salary is a big one. Portraying the role of a stay at home mother is the time in your life where you want to watch your kids grow and learn while you’re even expanding your knowledge on life itself. Friedersdorf points out “if
Michalski 2 your mother quit her role as a mother, entire lives would be turned upside down; society would suffer greatly” (Friedsdorf), believing women should set aside their work arrangements to contribute to taking care of their children. Children should be a mother’s first priority, especially at a younger age.
Adshade displays stay at home moms as being ignorant and women looking for a way out to escape the real world. Her notion “[a] tiny percentage of moms are extremely highly educated and affluent and
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