Alpha Mom vs Slacker Mom

"Here we go again" I muttered to myself as I saw this was the title of an upcoming segment on the Today Show this morning. "Yet another media fueled 'Battle of the Mothers'". Here is a link to the video of this morning's segment if you didn't catch it.

I am growing weary of this constant 'let's pit one mom against the other' that the Today Show is churning out with growing regularity. Granted, this morning's session was tame compared to the worn out Working Mom vs Stay at Home Mom debates like those surrounding Linda Hirschman, and her declaration that educated women were wasting their time by 'tending the home fires'. Let's not forget Leslie Bennetts and her statement that Stay at Home Moms are screwing themselves by being financially dependent on someone else, not to mention the never ending breastfeeding vs formula feeding debate (which I'm sure has been covered at some point by 'Today').

What is with this obsession among mothers, or perhaps more correctly, within the media, of categorizing moms as one type or another? What's with the rush to pigeon hole people? Is it now cool to be competitive about how anal you are, or how much of a slacker you are? Give me a break!

It never ceases to amaze me that each of these televised debates fail to convey adequately in little segments complete with cute graphics and video tape pieces, is that human beings, women, moms, have innate personality traits - things that set us apart - individual differences. This is something that Isabel Kallman, one of the participants in the segment this morning, tried to express, but whether it was the constraints of the time slot, or being quashed by Meredith in a quest for more controversial soundbites, I don't think she came across as clearly as she does here in her own blog post about the subject.

Here's a novel thought - maybe some women choose one path or another because, eh - that's what works for them? And the feminist in me (yes I stay at home, and yes I'm a feminist!) is asking, why is it always the moms that are the subject of such debates? When are we going to have the Dads examined, pitted against each other, have their parenting styles investigated? Hmm? Not that I think that will achieve much either, but it sure would make for some different viewing of a morning.

(Just as a little aside, since I'm sitting here typing this, and my daughter has nipped the inside of her cheek with a pen she was chewing on - I'm thinking there's no doubt as to which category I belong in! Well, she'll not do that again in a hurry.)

If perpetuating the 'Mommy Wars' is the best the Today Show can do in terms of coming up with program content, when there is a world full of events of importance - I'm thinking it's time I found something else to watch while I have my breakfast.