Washington Post Thinks It’s the 1950s
A week or so ago, the Washington Post ran this story that sounded like the studies that came out following World War II. The research – often government sponsored – was meant to counter the Rosie-the-Riveter propaganda and return women to the home.
This lead could have run decades ago: “A new study finds that babies raised by working mothers don’t necessarily suffer cognitive setbacks, an encouraging finding that follows a raft of previous reports suggesting that women with infants were wiser to stay home.”
It was the women’s page editors (some who were mothers themselves) who provided a more nuanced message about working mothers. They were able to counter some of the messages that warned that working mothers were ruining society. The women’s page editors also encouraged women to get involved outside of the home in women’s clubs.
It is so sad that these media message still exist.
