4 reasons the 'mommy wars' are good for parenting in America

The “mommy wars” – the so-called conflict between moms (or parenting philosophies) over topics related to motherhood – are a constant cultural undercurrent. While many call for a ceasefire, the mommy wars constitute a valuable social, political, and cultural dialogue. Here are four reasons why the mommy wars are good for America.

2. Evaluating issues helps women take informed positions

Critically evaluating the issues surrounding and embedded in motherhood can help women take informed positions on them. Think, for example, about the perennial stay-at-home mom vs. working mom debate. If you are faced with this decision, wouldn’t you like to know as much as possible about the benefits and costs, the challenges and rewards, as well as the experiences of others?

Being privy to that discussion gives women resources (advice among them) that allow them to weigh the options and make the very best decision for themselves and their families.

The free exchange of ideas underpinning the “mommy wars” encourages such critical evaluation.

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Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

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