Becoming a mother in PR land is like getting a face tattoo
I want to have children, but will it set my career back? This is the question Lisa Portolan says she (and other colleagues and friends) grappled with as she considered stepping back from the PR world to become a mother.
In her memoir ‘Eat, Pray, Love’, Elizabeth Gilbert’s friend tells her, “Having a baby is like getting a tattoo on your face. You really need to be certain it’s what you want before you commit”. Most parents would agree with this, but, realistically, only realise it after the birth of a child. Before that, parenthood is imagined but unknown. At least, that was my experience.
I was concerned about the impact on my career. I’d spent close to ten years working in government communications and had been a departmental director for some time, primed for my next step as a branch head. What would six months off look like? Would I be overlooked for promotions if I returned as a part-time staff member? Would I even want to go back?
nice article Lisa!
I do not get why PR people seem to think they are the ONLY ones inflicted with all these issues and problems …
I feel like you and I read two separate opinion pieces. There are a lot of good points raised in this piece from a PR perspective and I am sure professionals from other backgrounds will have other points to raise from their experience.
Perfectly sums it up! ??
Oh boo hoo, as if PR isn’t almost entirely populated by women. Everyone who has a family has to suffer their way through it. You’re a Director why are you whingeing?
Wow. Really, “Max”? You needed to write that?
Thank you for the article Lisa! It goes to show as well how a lot of our fears as women come from society placing limiting beliefs on us, what we ‘can’ and ‘can’t do’, particularly if we have children. Of course parenthood is also one of the greatest steps into the unknown, and we don’t really understand how it will change us until the time comes.
But we also have to ask ourselves if what we say is really true or if we are just assuming they are true. You have shown you are not only working in a senior role, but have also managed to complete a pHD and write a book with *gasp* – children! Unbelievable! haha
I myself am about to start my Masters in Health Promotion, but have also had the thought of ‘wait – I might want to have children soon, should I do this degree first or have a child first, or do this first’ – arrgh! Then I remind myself not many men likely think this way, and if my intuition is calling me to do this Masters program and then go foe a role promoting health, I will go for it and not hold myself back wondering about a problem I don’t actually have yet.
This article was actually better than I expected.
“The crux of it: I want to have children, but will this set my career back?”
Seems pretty simple. If you want to ‘step back’, then yeah it will. If you just want to have a kid, then no it won’t.
I don’t understand why you would want to have a kid now. It will only ever have “gig” jobs, have massive HECS debt, won’t ever be able to afford its’ own home, and will find itself living in a destroyed ecosystem. Really, women have to take a long hard look at the misogynist social dictates that *order* them to make babies (for the economy, religion and army). I would personally like to see a dispassionate list of actual *real* reasons to have a “kid”. And, “looking after you” in your old age, or anything personal-fear related is not one of them. Companionship is also a selfish reason, as is having a “fashion accessory” or plaything/toy to compare with your girlfriends. And ignore your mothers: they are just jealous that they were tricked into suffering and don’t see why you shouldn’t suffer just as they were forced to by the patriarchy. It’s your body and your decision; why can’t a woman devote all her time to her career? (without the encumberance of a brat)
nice article Lisa!