Entertainment / Can Women Have It All?

Can Women Have It All?

Entertainment Jul 09, 2014

by Nidhi Shrivastava

Is it possible for women to have both a career and a family – and do both well?

Gone are the days when women would sacrifice their careers to raise a family. Modern expectations are for women to manage a professional career, and get married, settle down and raise a family.

Although there are more opportunities for women’s economic growth and financial independence, the juggle of both personal and professional roles is a struggle for most women who aspire to have it all.

Recently, PepsiCp CEO Indra Nooyi and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg made headlines as both women tried to address their solutions and struggles to juggling personal and professional lives as successful career women. While Sandberg on her visit to India was optimistic, especially after the success of her book, Lean In: Women, Work, and The Will To Lead, Nooyi’s perspective is certainly less so.

Indra Nooyi/ post-gazette

In an interview at Aspen Ideas Festival with David Bradley, owner of The Atlantic, Nooyi said:

“I don't think women can have it all. I just don't think so. We pretend we have it all. We pretend we can have it all. My husband and I have been married for 34 years. And we have two daughters. And every day you have to make a decision about whether you are going to be a wife or a mother, in fact many times during the day you have to make those decisions. And you have to co-opt a lot of people to help you. We co-opted our families to help us. We plan our lives meticulously so we can be decent parents. But if you ask our daughters, I'm not sure they will say that I've been a good mom. I'm not sure. And I try all kinds of coping mechanisms.”

Sandberg, on her visit promoting her book in India, offered tips to help better the situation of career-oriented women in India and the rest of the world. Her first important statement was that a woman in a leadership role isn’t “bossy”, just results-oriented, and that this problematic stereotype should be challenged and debunked.

Sheryl Sandberg/ indiatimes

She reiterated that women should work in environments that are safe for them and that a zero-tolerance policy for sexual violence against women should be strongly implemented.

Like Nooyi, Sandberg accepts that while men have one job, women have two. Even with the help of household staff and family, managing both a home and a career is not easy. She remarked that husbands need to help with household chores more often. And she concluded that women shouldn’t quit work just because they have children.

Nooyi has candidly said, "the biological clock and the career clock are in total conflict with each other. Total, complete conflict. When you have to have kids, you have to build your career. Just as you're rising to middle management, your kids need you because they're teenagers.”

Although both women rightfully have pointed out the idea goal for a woman to have it all, I would argue that it is indeed possible if we do take ownership of our responsibility towards becoming someone and having a family. When there is a will, there is a way!

Do you think it is possible to have it all, or does success at work or home mean you're missing out on the other half of your life? Let us know in the comments below.

_{Featured Image: washingtonpost}

Nidhi Shrivastava

Author

Nidhi Shrivastava (@shnidhi) is a Ph.D. candidate in the English department at Western University and works as an adjunct professor in at Sacred Heart University. She holds double masters in South Asian Studies and Women's Studies. Her research focuses on Hindi film cinema, censorship, the figure o...

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Can Women Have It All?

by Nidhi Shrivastava

Is it possible for women to have both a career and a family – and do both well?

Nidhi Shrivastava

COMMENTS

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