I'm thrilled to be part the Feminism 2.0 effort to promote discussion about work-life issues in our communities. If you haven't visited Fem2pt0.com, it's well worth listening to the just-concluded blog radio series, which included dynamic groups of speakers on everything from caregiving and work to how work-life issues impact minority groups.
Today, I'm hosting a work-life blog carnival as part of the rolling Fem 2.0 blog carnival this week. I'm thrilled to feature some of my favorite bloggers on the topic. We've got a variety of voices and opinions for you, so without further ado: step right up to the carnival!
What Is Work-Life?
Our first ride is a taxonomy of work-life styles, courtesy of Hip Mom's Guide. Are you seriously focused, happily committed or an uber-juggler who thrives on chaos? Once you understand where your challenges lie, you can avoid sabotaging your natural wiring and simply do what's right for you.
Next, Brad Harrington, writing on the Sloan Network's Work and Family blog, urges the entire work-life field to step up from the margins and become an integral corporate strategy for ensuring a productive, happy workforce. Stop focusing on just helping people cope in times of stress or life change -- simply reducing work-life conflict doesn't bring fulfillment, he argues.
Dinosaur Mom would probably welcome Harrington's argument that work-life should stop being seen as a women's issue. She urges workers to stop dreaming about the perfect package of benefits and instead look for role models who are carving out balance in today's workplaces.
Women, Men and Work
As if in answer to Dinosaur Mom's question about whether there are happily married breadwinner moms, Stacy Feuer blogs at CurrentMom.com (which I founded) about studies showing that working moms have happier marriages and fewer divorces than our stay-at-home mom counterparts. Perhaps a hearty dose of equality is good for marriage!
Cali Williams Yost continues to examine the gender divide with a Work+Life Fit post challenging our stereotypes about putting your career first if you're a man or a woman. In an ideal world, she writes, fathers could proudly choose to put their families first (sometimes) and mothers could admit that they put their careers first (sometimes) without the judgment that comes crashing down upon us now.
One gender-based assumption that Laureen Miles Brunelli would like to squash is that women are always in charge of the household. Writing on her About.com site for work-at-home-moms, she challenges the fantasy that work-at-home moms are living a dream life. Their home is also their office, she reminds us.
Deep Philosophical Questions
Continuing down the midway, we reach Leanne Chase at Career Life Connection, who poses the tough moral question: are those employees who work in their "free" time work-life saints or sinners? The answer seems to rest on whether they're choosing to work evenings and weekends because they love their jobs, or putting in overtime because their employer is understaffed.
Falling into the latter camp (I'd guess), Chrysula Winegar argues that the structure of work is fundamentally broken. The house of work is a tear down she argues, because so often people have to choose all or nothing -- either the full-speed, all-consuming career or a complete break from work while raising children. She suggests a blueprint to build another house that would provide flexible, rewarding part-time jobs and a productive, engaged labor force for smart corporations.
Peggy Hu voices the inner thoughts of many parents in a kidandcaboodle post musing about life B.K. (before kid) and how easy it was. How many of us can relate to her longing for those lazy weekends and fun evenings out?
Practical Career Advice
Leave it to the remaining About.com bloggers to take us from the sublime to the extremely practical. Writing on her family fitness site, Catherine Holecko reminds readers to check out your work-life benefits and inquire about perks your employer offers. Like Catherine, you may find anything from a health club membership to discounts at local sporting goods stores.
Melissa Kotlen Nagin urges new moms going back to work not to give up on breastfeeding, and offers a number of strategies for continuing nursing on her Breastfeeding site. And Dawn Rosenberg McKay, the About.com Guide to Career Planning, encourages parents debating the return to work to think about the good reasons to leave a career for more time with family.
To close out the carnival, on this site I wrote about the best jobs for moms and dads and how to spot them. This list goes beyond the top companies for working moms, and digs into the reasons an employer might be a good fit for a parent -- as well as ideas for making your job even better for your work-life needs.
Thanks for joining us on this trip! Please leave a comment below and on the blogs that participated in the carnival. And don't forget to visit Fem 2.0 for the continuing carnival on work in America.
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