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> Why? If you look at a random sample of humans, vs a random sample of 20-50 year old women, the sample that is women will include more mothers than the sample
by hungie 2y ago
> Why?
If you look at a random sample of humans, vs a random sample of 20-50 year old women, the sample that is women will include more mothers than the sample across humanity, generally.
Typically, a random sample across all people will include approximately 50% men, who are statistically very unlikely to be birthing parents.
> Doesn't that reinforce stereotypes?
No, because you are accommodating both parents and non parents. Admitting that parents exist and that they can also be founders or professionals is a negation of the idea that women must be exclusively caretakers.
> Why not expect people to be responsible parents?
I don't see anyone in the article who was an irresponsible parent.
- bumby 2y ago>who are statistically very unlikely to be birthing parents. This is an odd framing unless you are expecting people to be birthing at a conference. To the OP’s point, there’s no reason someone who birthed a child should shoulder a disproportionate amount of the child rearing. So is yours an age-based argument rather than a gender one?
- cthalupa 2y agoIdeal reality vs. actual reality are separate things. In fact, recognizing actual reality is a prerequisite to going "well damn this actually really sucks we should fix that." In an ideal world, men would be just as likely to be taking on the responsibilities of childcare in equal measures with women. In the real world, even in "progressive" areas, women disproportionately are shouldered with those responsibilities. It is something that I would expect an event focusing on female founders and the challenges they face would take into account.
- em-bee 2y agothere’s no reason someone who birthed a child should shoulder a disproportionate amount of the child rearing there is: breastfeeding. and no, pumping breastmilk and having dad feed the baby with a bottle is not the same thing. the necessary reality is that the body contact that mother and baby experience while breastfeeding has no equivalence in the other gender, and if you value that experience then by necessity a breastfeeding mother must be doing a disproportionate amount of the child rearing.
- bumby 2y agoThat is one part of child rearing. Granting that may the the bulk and most important part early in life, it hardly encapsulates all of child rearing. Just because one aspect is disproportionate doesn’t mean raising a child as a whole needs to be.
- em-bee 2y agoagreed. and i suppose that one could balance things out by having fathers do more in other, later parts of childrearing, but given that breastfeeding can only be done by mothers, and there is nothing that can only be done by fathers the odds favor a mothers involvement over the fathers. the fathers involvement is optional, the mothers is required. one problem being that full time jobs force a choice on who stays at home to take care of the children. because of breastfeeding, in the majority of cases the choice will be the mother. female founders are going to remain an exception until we restructure our work such that the majority of people work no more than 20 hours a week and thereby no longer forcing a choice on who stays at home because both parents would be able to contribute to childrearing without having to stop working. (i was a stay-at-home dad btw, so i have experienced the alternative)
- bumby 2y ago>restructure our work such that the majority of people work no more than 20 hours a week I think this is highly unlikely in the US, given how much we as a society prize economic productivity. Another alternative is to make parents a protected class to legally prevent discrimination, although that may cause all kinds of pushback just like we're seeing with DEI in the current environment.
- em-bee 2y agoprobably true. the only way to address the pushback is better moral education.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]