Do women really get to choose if they want to have a career?

Or does society choose for them?


Mother. Businesswoman. Daughter. Doctor. Sister. Nurse. Aunt. Engineer. Wife. Athlete. Girlfriend. Teacher. Friend. Homemaker.

These are just some of the many roles women all of over the world fulfill every single day. The diversity of these roles proves how versatile women have to be if they want to maximize all of their skills and societal duties. All women have to fight the constant battle between their home and work lives. More responsibilities, more problems.

Every day women have to face the misconception that they are not equal to men whether it is at home or in their job. Sure, the times have progressed and more and more women balance the burden of a job and a family but that does not mean everyone is equal. Women still get paid a substantial amount less than men for completing the same job. Women are still underrepresented in Congress which was created to accurately represent the American people. Women are still expected to be the ones to quit their job when it comes time to creating a family. Why do the ladies get all of these burdens? Why do we have to give up our dreams just because we want a family? How is any of this fair?

On a more personal note, I want to share about the sacrifices my mother made. My mother is a highly educated women with a Masters in Economics, and yet she still decided to stay home and take care of my brother and I. A lot of women willingly sacrifice their career just so they can stay home and raise their children. Many women are choosing this path because they want to be very involved in their children’s upbringing. These women are deciding to make this sacrifice and of course it is highly appreciated. But why just women? Why are there way more stay at home moms in comparison to stay at home dads? The double standard clearly persists. Women are assumed to make this sacrifice over men.

A key role model in this fight for equality is Facebook COO, Sheryl Sandberg. Sandberg is a very successful businesswoman and mother. She is known for her brilliant work with Google and Facebook along with discussing the duty all women have to face when it comes to their job and their family. Sandberg talks about how all educated mothers have to make a choice whether to pick a career or to stay home and how so many mothers feel guilty as stay at home moms. Picking to stay home is a double-edged sword. On one hand, their children are always taken care of since their mother is always present, but on the other hand, the mother is setting a suppressed example presenting what is possible for their daughters.

From all the high ranked positions in America, only 14 percent are held by women and that number is at a huge risk of declining. There are more women than men in America – this statistic should be reflecting that fact, but it is not. Society forces women to believe that they should sacrifice their careers because their children need their mother. Every child needs their mother, but they also need their father. No mother should give up their dream job or goals just because they have a baby. This is all a fight for equality. It has been a century since women were legally equal to men yet today women still have to stay in their shadows and make so many sacrifices.

Every single woman can have a job and a family. You do not have to choose. There are so many successful women who have proved that. Every woman has a choice whether to work or not to work and that decision should be made by them. No man should decide what sacrifice you have to make because you truly do not have to make any.