Mommy Wars

Working vs. Staying Home, a panel discussion at the 92nd Street Y

By: Susan Cheever, Molly Jong-Fast, Dawn Drzal, Terri Minsky

Narrated by: Naomi Wolf, Leslie Morgan Steiner

The battle rages in every mother: stay at home or go back to work. This panel at New York's 92nd Street Y features four contributors to the new book The Mommy Wars (edited by Leslie Morgan Steiner) as they discuss the state of motherhood. The panelists represent multiple points on the "working full time vs. stay-at-home" spectrum, and they share their personal experiences and opinions with brutal honesty and wit.

Columnist and professor Susan Cheever is the author of 11 books, including her chronicle about motherhood, As Good as I Could Be.

Molly Jong-Fast is the author of the quasi-autobiographical novels Normal Girl and Girl (Maladjusted).

Dawn Drzal was an editor who became a stay-at-home mother soon after the birth of her only child.

Terri Minsky is the creator of several television shows, including Lizzie McGuire.

Moderator Naomi Wolf is the author of The Beauty Myth and The Treehouse.

Leslie Morgan Steiner is a mother of three and works at The Washington Post.

This event took place on March 23, 2006.

©2006 92 nd Street Young Men's and Young Women's Hebrew Association (P)2006 92 nd Street Young Men's and Young Women's Hebrew Association

Good points

Many good points were made among several women who chose to work or stay at home. I agree that US society stigmatizes both women who are full-time moms and those who also work, especially those in the middle and upper classes. However, there is a glaring lack of comments from women who didn't have the choice to stay at home or work--those whose financial circumstances required them to go back to work at the end of their meager maternity leave. I think a more interesting discussion would center on how the US can help all moms be financially independent enough to have that choice.

No Structure

I wanted to listen to this discussion and be able to relate. Instead we have one mom saying she's not a good mom and not a good worker, if she says she was she'd be lying. And another mom saying my experience is more interesting than others. And another mom who sounded like she was in tears the whole time, but during the whole audio everyone is cracking jokes and laughing. Unfortunate and sad. No real issues were taken seriously.

Didn't fully agree

Interesting it's cheap so why not... It was good at first but the women in it seemed so unsure of themselves having to feed off each others energy. Trying to believe that what they were doing was right. Like they weren't convinced themselves that being a working mom is right. So sad. Didn't connect with them whatsoever. I feel empowered by being a working mom but these women seemed to work too hard to justify themselves, when there isn't too much to justify.

Great Audiobook

Wow, this was an awesome seminar involving Mommy Wars. There was a lot of information discussed that I could totally relate. A lot of good laughs and unbiased differences between staying at home or working full-time as a mother. Definitely worth the money and time. Wish I could have been there to hear it in person.