I don’t buy a word of this Yahoo Supermum dribble

rach says:

02:08pm | 30/11/12

Agreed. She’s a CEO, it would be bad for business if she hinted any weakness.

AndreaN says:

02:15pm | 30/11/12

Probably?  The jury’s back, the verdict’s in - liar, liar, pants on fire.  2 weeks back at work as a CEO?  Who’s getting up for the 2am feeds that go on until 4am when the next feed is due to start?  Lying ..... pffft!

H says:

02:15pm | 30/11/12

.... And her supposed first priority isn’t going to like that..   good on her for getting this far.. But give it time before saying it’s easy.. You’ve set yourself up big time!

NotSoSimple says:

04:52pm | 30/11/12

Hear hear, well said! Love it!  “if you are so goddamn smart, own your decisions.” Perfect.

Unfortunately I just see this article as another red rag to all the MRE nut jobs out there to go on another anti-feminist rant so the Punch can count the clicks.. Can’t wait.

Yawn.

Australia Has It So Good says:

06:45pm | 30/11/12

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!

The Australian Sisterhood and Mummy Martyr Mafia is something I try to stay clear away from.

I too have had an absolute gut-ful of the continual whining and “mummy is a martyr” mentality in this country. I spent 9 months in Cambodia, close to 2 years in India and Nepal, and a year in Peru working as a nurse in rural areas.

It seem that back here in Australia, life is so damn difficult in a country where clean (hot or cold) drinking water straight from the tap, girls have the opportunity to get an equal education to boys, we have microwaves, refridgeration, electric ovens, television and dvds (for babysitting), a choice of nutricious foods, a choice of medical professional and a system to help the greater community such as Medicare.

It’s been an absolute struggle to re-adjust upon my return to my home country. It’s very, very difficult to not judge the women (and men - but mainly women) who I over-hear at the school bitching about how they should be receiving more hand-outs, the government must contribute to little Bratford’s this or that. I"d love these people to spend six months with me working in rural India, where in some cases the nearest doctor is more than 3 hours away, and nobody has a car so you have to rely on public transportation. I’d love to see how they’d cope with walking forty minutes, whilst pregnant, to retrieve clean water for the day - then carry it back to the home.

Whilst abroad, I kept tabs on news of my home country, and from fellow ex-pats, had heard numerous stories about the growing ‘entitlement mentality’ in what was once the greatest nation on earth - a nation where people would count their blessings and be grateful for the abundance of choice - instead of the bleating and mooing about ‘deserving this payment, entitled to that payment, planning to birth by the end of such and such so not to miss the government handout”.

It’s hard to not preach…yes, I know I’m doing it now. But after four + years away, the only response I’ve had to any of the things I’ve mentioned is “If you don’t like it then LEAVE” or “go back to where you came from!!” (um, I’m from here….my family has been here since the First ‘Effing Fleet!), but nobody - NOBODY has addressed my concerns with an answer except to become very defensive. Much like I am now - but I know where such frustration comes from, it comes from seeing how good we have it, even those not earning much, and even the majority of those not working are able to have some assistance. I’ve seen kids as young as 8 and 9 being sold by their families into sex-rings because the rest of their families have to eat somehow.  I worked in a Punjab village where daughters of farmers regularly hanged themselves with their dupta scarves and their parents could not afford doweries. I personally had to try to revive a 46 year old labourer who drank battery acid because he could not afford the what equated to $75USA) repayment to the bank for labouring tools. $75 people…that’s an early dinner and a movie.

I’ve also had to try to help heal the mess that was made of a ten year old who suffered full female genital mutilation. She didn’t make it. What was done to her is too awful to repeat here.

I know raising kids is difficult - I’ve been there and done that. But what I’m NOT understanding is how it’s become almost IMPOSSIBLE to do it without handout or complaint. Unless you’re caring for an ill, or disabled child, or you’re ill and disabled yourself, then parenting is NOT anything new. It’s been done in more difficult circumstances, in more difficult times, for tens of thousands of years. I think back to the women of WW2 who were raising kids as single mothers whilst their husband were away (and who many didn’t return), without all the handouts, without modern appliances, without cars, without extended family to help. And these women also worked in areas such as the Women’s Land Army, or back filled the positions vacated by the men. But in a short time, it’s become “all too hard”.

And let’s face it - every species is able to reproduce itself.

It was interesting to take note of the “Australian behavioural diagnosis trajectory” as another Aussie doctor with whom I worked termed it. In the four + years I worked in various medical institutions, we amount back here (but that’s for another column).

I just wish that those who have the basics - a roof over your head, food, water, access to health care, education, realised what they have instead of what they don’t , and what they believe they are owed.

End of rant.

Sally says:

06:53pm | 30/11/12

I love your passion and agree with your comment about Western sisterhood. We isolate ourselves from each other instead of supporting each other, and then wonder why things are so hard. Who knows how much help this woman does or doesn’t have, but as they say it takes a village to raise a child. Why not support her and be happy for her rather than complain that ‘she makes me feel…’. She doesn’t make you feel anything, she was only talking about herself.

AdamC says:

03:16pm | 30/11/12

Given that yet another of my comments has gone missing, I will simply endorse Mahhrat’s.

Well said.

Markus says:

03:29pm | 30/11/12

It’s become ever more apparent that this is a gaping difference in mindsets.
Most men see a great achievement and consider it as something to aspire to, even if they only ever achieve a fraction of the success.
When I see the word ‘benchmark’, I see ‘level by which I can measure and my own personal goals and progress’.

Articles like this popping up every second week have me convinced that a disturbingly large percentage of women see others’ success as a direct personal attack on their own progress.
Even here, the way the author used the word ‘benchmark’ seems to be as a synonym for ‘mandatory minimum requirement’.

As for claiming that an ‘impossible’ benchmark has been set, well it clearly isn’t impossible if you have just witnessed it, is it?

SM says:

03:41pm | 30/11/12

very well said Mahhrat.  Women endlessly compare themselves to other women.  In so many areas.  They simply cannot help themselves

Justme says:

03:44pm | 30/11/12

Because, Mahhrat, no one expects every single man to achieve the lofty heights of Aussie cricket captain. But if just one or two women set the bar ridiculously high in business or supermodelling or even baking cookies, then sadly there is an undercurrent of belief out there that rest of us are somehow expected to be able to achieve that as well. No one is nastier to women than other women when it comes to these sorts of expectation.

expat says:

03:15pm | 30/11/12

I would not be very impressed as a yahoo shareholder coming in a measly third… That is just asking for trouble.

McPaddy says:

05:15pm | 30/11/12

Agreed. Anybody who says new motherhood and being a CEO of a major listed company is easy is either a sociopath (who is not really into children) or a liar, much like anybody who says they would put their imaginary friend ahead of their family…

SM says:

03:46pm | 30/11/12

I hear you Sarah.  I’m in that world to some extent, certainly not to the degree/paypacket that the Yahoo lady is, but my day is spent surrounded by the absurd language and irrelevant nonsense that you’ve highlighted, and I want out.  Just not sure how to get out.

stephen says:

06:57pm | 30/11/12

Yeah, I’m just waiting for the sanity litmus tests on these people, just like the ones who are unemployed, the smokers, the dole recipients, those who are fat, and those are disabled and haven’t got a friend, if only to convince them to upgrade their private health insurance so they are not a burden on the taxpayer.
Money surely cannot be so important to them - then it must be the power.

sami says:

04:28pm | 30/11/12

Not all women are particularly maternal though. I’m not. At all. Just like not all men are particularly paternal. It does seem weird that you have that kind of bias but there you go. We are all individuals. I do wonder what you think about people like me who aren’t even keen on kids, maybe we are heartless monsters or maybe we are nice people who are sensible. I don’t know.

I call bs on the au pair not being able to take a kid to hospital. If I found a random child sick or injured on the street that I didn’t know from a bar of soap do you really think if I took it to hospital they’re going to say ‘nope’ and turn the kid away just because I’m not it’s parent? Seems utterly ridiculous I’m afraid.

The fact is, dysfunctional and neglected kids/families exist in every demographic. There are good parents and bad across the board. Also there are great parents who have troubled kids and crap parents who have great kids so it’s some sort of nature/nurture luck of the draw, really.