As mothers, we talk a lot about balance. It’s an elusive concept—that sort of stands for being tired and overwhelmed. But even that conversation is highly unbalanced. It’s not a full discussion, because we don’t talk about balance for fathers nearly as much. Don’t both parents deserve to find a comfortable spot on the continuum of personal and occupational fulfillment. “We have to rise up against the idea that balance is a woman’s issue, says Stephanie Coontz, it’s equally a men’s issue. Currently, men are reporting higher levels of work family conflict than women.” Few people know more about...

cross-posted to http://womenmakenewscom If quality mothering promotes the healthy development of children, maybe doubling the mothering yields a better result. You might well think so, if you heard the recent news story about a study of lesbian parents. The research got a lot of play, with a simplified synopsis that kids with two moms do better. Of course, the real story is more complicated--still the study does tell us something about successful childrearing that we kind of know aleady: that children who are wanted and are raised in home with more resources do better than those who are not...

cross-posted to Women Make News Who can persuade you than your kids? Pleeease, mom…… What makes you change more than thoughts of your kids’ wellbeing? Swapping a balcony for a yard, buckling up for short trips, tossing a drawerful of sippy cups laced with BPA? Drawing on this instinct to please our children and do what’s best for them, the new campaign Green My Parents, uses kids to persuade their planet-guzzling adults to change their ways. It’s such a brilliant idea: families get educated about environmental issues and challenged to make changes that make a difference. Not only that kids...

cross-posted to womenmakenews.com The Huffington Post’s Move Your Money Campaign is urging people to leave Citibank, BofA, and the like. Why? Because, the BIG Banks got BIG TARP money from the government and are about to pay out BIG bonuses. With squat for the little people—too many of whom are out of jobs, insurance and unemployment checks. Huffington advocates moving your accounts to community-based banks or credit unions, which she argues are more likely to invest and help local businesses. The appeal has been answered--over a thousand people have signed the pledge to switch. But why not...

Last night I saw a movie that started out with the rape and murder of a woman and her child. I wish I had been warned—why can’t there be a RAPE-FREE or RF rating on movies, along with PG14, R and X? Earlier this month, the Parents Television Council released a report saying that depictions of violence against women increased 120% in the past five years. I don’t find that hard to believe. Whenever I flip on the TV, it seems like some woman is either screaming or lying in a pool of blood as sleuthy types try to discover what happened exactly. I can tell you what happened. It’s the same old,...

We know women get paid less for the same job. We know mothers get paid even less. We know this from studies and the newspaper. Not because HR circulates charts showing females get 22% less. No, salaries are kept private—pay slips are passed out in sealed envelopes. Why such secrecy? Things we generally keep secret—affairs, warts, are not usually nice. But money’s nice to clothe and feed our children. GOING PUBLIC Here’s an immodest proposal: let’s go public about salaries. Transparency might ensure women get paid fairly. FEDERAL WOMEN It seems to work for the government which has a...