One’s choice not necessarily another’s

My understanding of feminism is that it promotes enabling  women to make choices about their lives.

One  of those choices is to take on the role of primary caregiver for children.

It does the cause, and women, no good when those who manage to combine a career with raising children criticise others who prefer not to:

Mrs Blair, a QC and mother of four, criticised women who “put all their effort into their children” instead of working. Mothers who go out to work are setting a better example for their children, she said

Addressing a gathering of “powerful” women at one of London’s most expensive hotels, Mrs Blair said she was worried that today’s young women are turning their backs on the feminism of their mothers’ generation.

Some women now regard motherhood as an acceptable alternative to a career, Mrs Blair said. Instead, women should strive for both.

One woman’s choice about her and family life  isn’t necessarily another’s.

The criticism is especially galling when it comes from one whose family income gives her and her husband choices about child care and house keeping which many others might not be able to afford.

Her point about the importance of women being self-sufficient is valid, especially in context of her explanation:

Mrs Blair said her view was informed by her own experience of her father abandoning her mother when she was a child. But she insisted that all women should make sure they can provide for themselves: “Even good men could have an accident or die and you’re left holding the baby.

But the promotion of self-sufficiency should be possible without criticising women who choose not to pursue a career while their children are young.

One criticism of feminism is that in making it possible, and acceptable, for women to take on roles  and work which were traditionally the preserve of men  it has devalued traditional female work and roles.

Mrs Blair’s comments add fuel to that fire.