Senior editor at THE ATLANTIC Hanna Rosin sees the contemporary female as an determined capable achiever. In the second chapter of her book "The End of Men," Rosin introduces us to Pittsburgh Metro area lawyer Sarah Andrews. One wonders if we would see the same things that Rosin reports that she sees when she spends time with Sarah.
Of course there exist professionals like Sarah who are so innately talented in what they do that they succeed without a lot of heavy lifting. Sarah gets a free financial ride through law school and gets a good law job. Her husband stays at home to take care of the child and attends law school at night.
After work, Rosin tells us that Sarah attends to her domestic duties. For example, reports Rosin:
"She (Sarah) made pie dough and set out a bowl of dried peas to distract Xavier (her son)."
Admittedly, Sarah might be talented in managing her energy and emotions to also parachute in from a demanding law job to chores at home - and without resentment. That's a possibility. However, it is more likely that Sarah is not going to be able to keep up being a wunderkind or simply decides that she doesn't want to do so much. Remember the meme as the women's movement evolved about women who do too much?
Given the distressed legal sector, it could happen that extraordinary demands are put on Sarah for more billable hours, better outcomes for clients, and bringing in new business. All the stress could change everything, ranging from her ability to perform at work to her content mindset about the Martha Stewart stance on the homefront. There is no reason to believe that this generation of women professionals will have a problem-free path. The only difference might be that their problems might not be the ones of the women of Generation X.
After all, life is difficult. Since the Crash of 2007, it has become especially difficult for lawyers.
Comments