Women CAN'T have it all, according to Penelope Trunk, start-up founder and TMI blogger (she has blogged in great detail about her personal life from marriage counseling to miscarriage). Recently, she announced that she was taking a step back from her company, Brazen Careerist, to focus on her children. Nothing wrong with that, right? That's a personal choice that many women (AND MEN!) make every day.
However, she goes on justify that decision by claiming that ALL women are ruled by their biological clocks and really only want one thing: to have babies.
Women don’t want to give up their personal life in exchange for the chance to be the next Google.
Is it me or did Penelope just claim that all women want to give up what they worked their asses off for to focus on raising children because that is what she would like to do right now? I have no doubt that it is extraordinarily difficult to raise children and run a start-up or other type of business (caveat: my law practice is my only baby) but that does not make it impossible.
In today's society, it is not uncommon for women to have demanding jobs or businesses while their mates stay home with the children. Additionally, women have the option to adopt and/or utilize reproductive technologies to become a mother later in life when the business is more established. Let's not forget that women also have the option to not become mothers at all. Some women are happy to be aunties instead of mothers so they can freely build an empire (Oprah, anyone?). And some mothers will make the choice to give up one start-up for another (Children are start-ups! They require all of your time, attention, money and direction! Have you seen a mother in action lately?!).
So, Penelope, put on your big girl pants and stop using womankind to justify your decisions. Kthxbai!
