I assume that you have used your superior reasoning skills to deduce that, since I started looking for work in June 2010 and started a blog about being a housewife in Dec. 2010, I have not succeeded in finding a job. In fact, I have had only 5 interviews (2 at the same place).
Yes, I realize the economy sucks and, in Alabama, there are 4 people applying for every 1 job opening. Nonetheless, in my adult life, I have seen the job market wane and wax and I have never had any difficulty getting a job. I'm not saying I always got every job I applied for. I have, however, weaseled my way into many jobs I was capable of performing but was definitely not qualified for, technically speaking. The legal job market, at least here, has been poor for several years now. Still, I managed to get a job right out of law school when many gifted students did not. You see, I have but a few talents and selling myself to potential employers is one of them.
Why then can I suddenly not get interviews, much less job offers? Frustration, anger, resentment (at unknown forces) plagued me for months. Then I discovered the term "maternal wall." The maternal wall is like the glass ceiling except it applies specifically to mothers. The EEOC informs us that the maternal wall can really stand in the way of any primary caregiver. A sad reflection on our society when people try to take care of those who can't care for themselves whether they be children, elderly or handicapped.
Now you must know I am not completely full of myself. I do not believe the maternal wall is entirely responsible for my new predicament. It could be my age, although I choose to believe I look younger than 40. (Wait, I'm 39. It's my husband who keeps shoving me into a new decade.) Anyway, I know the economy is a problem and I know the legal market is an issue no matter the economy. Of course, any number of additional factors that could have been thrown into the mix as well. But still, it strikes me as odd that in all the jobs I applied for and for which I was very well suited, I didn't even get an interview. I mean, it's not like I don't have good qualifications and it's not like I haven't added on to my professional credentials since I've been out of work. What gives?
There are studies and articles on the maternal wall. I don't think it's really discrimination against women per se. I think it's greediness. We want our society to reproduce (you can't have a strong nation if you have no citizens and you can't make money if there's no one to spend it). But we don't want to have to pay the price of obtaining new consumers (I mean, citizens) by letting a mother or a father leave work for the afternoon to pick up a sick child. I mean, my goodness, that data entry couldn't possibly be done later and certainly, in the age of laptops and internet, no attorney is capable of working up those billable hours from home. What employers don't realize is that happy employees are good and efficient employees and they will get the job done well and on time. How, though, can you expect someone to work accurately and efficiently when they are worried about their sick child?
Oh, yeah, employers don't have to concern themselves with such trivial matters. They just don't hire primary caregivers in the first place.
So I love all the "job tip" newsletters I get. I know the biggest tip of all - don't let on that you're a primary caregiver. Unfortunately, I can't hide it. If I don't disclose my motherhood status, I can't account for being out of work for a year. Oh, and don't think you won't be automatically be pegged as the primary caregiver if you're a woman. You will.
Sadly, my crystal ball has been out of order for quite some time. Therefore, I have no way of knowing to what extent the maternal wall has limited my job possibilities. Maybe it hasn't at all. Maybe it is just the economy or maybe the problem is me. After all, I've changed a lot since the last time I looked for a job - I'm older, I'm a mother and I'm more qualified.
Still, while I am quite concerned with my job situation and rather distraught, my use of "maternal wall" is a little different. I refer to my maternal wall the way a marathon runner would refer to hitting the brick wall. As you will see in blogs to come, being a stay at home mom has tested me mentally and physically in many ways. Like Madonna, I must reinvent myself if I am to stay true and relevant to my adoring public (i.e. my husband and baby). In the big scheme of things, dealing with the job hunt is only one aspect of my life as a mother.
* For a good beginning on the maternal wall, see these links:
http://www.sptimes.com/2007/05/13/news_pf/Opinion/On_the_job__moms_are_.shtml
http://www.eeoc.gov/policy/docs/caregiving.html
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