I would, ideally, like to keep politics out of this blog.
However, given that this is an election year, politics seems to be
butting its way into everything, so here goes.
The CSWA works hard to advocate for women in science.
One issue that comes up over and over again is the problem
of balancing career and family -- an issue for any working
mother, really. A key to that balance is the ability to
plan when and how many children to have -- something that
many of us, like myself, take for granted.
So when a Republican-controlled House Committee convenes an
all-male panel
to discuss coverage for birth control, it's hard not to take it
a little personally.
It's bad enough that dependent care coverage is a real issue for
many young astronomers, particularly grad students and postdocs, but to
not even have coverage for birth control?
More recently was the whole kerfuffle between Ann Romney and
Hilary Rosen about whether or not Romney
"has actually never worked a day in her life."
Given that Rosen was speaking specifically about
women in the paid workforce, Romney's response that raising
children was "work" sounded to me a lot like
"gravity is only a theory."
Yes, raising children is a lot of work. So is being a scientist.
Force times distance is also work.
At any rate, why is it that stay-at-home mom are lavished with praise and
put on pedestals, while working moms are frowned at? And, by the way,
where is dad in all this?
It's great to be talking about getting more girls interested in
science and math, since they are
certainly smart
enough. But girls are also smart enough to see the barriers
ahead. If they can see that they won't be able to raise families
on their own terms, no wonder they drop out.