Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Hitting the glass ceiling whine

She was tired of the greed driven profession so she quit--$400,000 income.

 "I encountered blatant gender discrimination, sexual harassment, and a very clear glass ceiling." she said. 

Poor thing. I feel as sorry for her as the female movie stars who feel slighted because of making only a million or so per film. Of course, as I read through her rant, she experiences what most moms do who work a lot of hours away from the children. She resents working with men who are single or who have stay at home wives to make life easier to work long hours. But a lot of women are missing the kids for $40,000/year, not $400,000. And if she didn't have two children to care for and long for, she could work those longer hours and do the travel of her male colleagues. But she calls it a glass ceiling.  I call it reality.  I didn't return to work, first part time, temporary contracts with summers off, until my children were in elementary school.  I accepted a full time, tenure track position when our son was a senior in high school.  Then I worked hard at being the best librarian I could be, publishing, attending meetings, and making national and international contacts and friendships. I never found a meeting or a challenge on the campus that was better than being at home with growing children.

Ladies, yes you can have it all, just not all at the same time.  And $400,000 a year?  I don't know any librarians or WaPo journalists who get that.

Washington Post story about Kristen Jarvis Johnson by Petula Dvorak, April 28 (can't get link to copy)


2 comments:

Paula said...

Zero sympathy for the $400K whiners, under any circumstances. Possible sympathy for the $40K whiners, depending upon the situation. I stayed home with the girls for 10 years, working part time helping the ex, and it was good for the girls. I do not regret that, given where they are today. I've been lucky to have a good job for the past 15 years, since there are so many without. I'm very grateful.

Norma said...

And you were lucky to be able to stay home with your children and enjoy their growing years and have an influence. Many career women, well paid or not, glass ceiling or office chair, don't have that opportunity. If your experience is like mine, nothing in your career is as memorable.