Motherload

The stereotyped image of the 'working mother' Female academics are writing less during Lockdown than men. Why would that be, then? To enlighten myself, I read an article today – here's the headline: Women academics seem to be submitting fewer papers during coronavirus. ‘Never seen anything like it,’ says one editor.  Men are submitting up to 50 percent more than they usually would I wonder if readers of this blog will be able to guess my response? Yes? No? I'm unable to restrain myself anyway, so here goes…To sum up, and at the risk of sounding like the Daily Mash , this is more fabulous Motherload nonsense from the No Shit Sherlock School of Research, University of Life. Go on then, I know you know I want to. Let me spell out why.  Particular restatements of the problem, as opposed to doing anything, anything at all, about the solution (um... men need to do more housework and let go of some of their entrenched power; women need to stop trying to do ...

Two people recently sent me a piece called ' The Pandemic and the Female Academic ', so I felt it incumbent upon me to clamber back onto my Motherload soapbox, lean from the top floor window of my coronavirus lockdown retreat, and scream into the indifferent winds. Very yogic. This is a paraphrased version of what my poor unwitting friends received in response: Thank you! Mmmmm… thesis: "it's going to be even harder for women with children to get their work done if they are on lockdown at home."    I don't want to appear rude, but isn't this of the No Shit Sherlock school of writing? This is normal Motherload, merely topped off with the whipped cream of pandemic.   And BTW I have never heard the term 'maternal wall' before, in all the years I've spent banging my head against it, writing about the nonsense that is combining children and a career as a woman. Speak soon, love, Ingrid. Although when I come to think of it, whenever I have...