That’s right — the new, new feminism was born on May 8 and weighed in at 9 pounds, 14 ounces.
My older stepdaughter is now a mom to a daughter (and no, you may NOT call me Grandma)! While I often wonder what the world will be like when my daughter, PunditGirl, is a woman, I looked at this little face and had to wonder — how will things be different for her in 2027 when she starts college?
Will this little girl be past the worries that so many of us have now about equal pay and workplace discrimination? Will we have celebrated our first woman president by the time she takes her first steps as a college freshman? Will people laugh about the fact that we ever had to worry about employers being "family friendly?"
I know that’s a lot to project and that I am getting ahead of myself — she’s only ten days old! And, yes, I promise I will live in the moment about having the opportunity again to buy cute little baby clothes! But with all the talk of Commissions and Councils about women, it’s hard not to try to see into the future and hope that my nine-year-old daughter and this brand new little feminist (fingers crossed!) will shake their heads and wonder how our country ever could have been so silly to think it was OK to pay women less than men or that women’s careers would have to suffer because they chose to have children.
I’m hoping I’ll be around to see that day. But in the meantime, I’ll also focus on enjoying PunditGirl and her new niece and see what I can learn from them about being a girl in the world.
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Cross-posted from Joanne’s blog, PunditMom. Joanne also writes about politics and motherhood at BlogHer, where she is a Contributing Editor for News & Politics, as well as at The Huffington Post.
Joanne, from your lips to the White House’s ears. I hope for all of that for my girls, too. I never want them to experience some of what I have. Never. They can build character another way. But I’ll help them develop strong, healthy confident little characters while we have good times, too. Great post and thoughts!
Mazel Tov, Joanne (and to the new mom too).
I think you know me well enough, as do others in the Fem2pt0 community and beyond, that I can get very pre-occupied in the “Weeds” as they say. But I know I have to pick my head up from time to time (if not more often!) and get to work because it’s the effort we put forth now that will have lasting effect in the future. Process is great but action is necessary. Thanks for this post.
Joanne — congrats, Queen Mother! What a beauty!
oh, how adorable! Mazeltov!!! What’s wrong with being called Grandma? It’s proof of your strength and love, imo. Look how many generations you have helped create.