Update to the below: gold medal for both the men’s and women’s hockey teams, both in overtime 2-1 games with unbelievable goaltending.
**
We’ve come a long way on gender equity in sports — and it’s been incredible to witness. And still, I want more.
The Olympics have always been part of my life. My first Games were the Calgary 1988 Winter Olympics, thanks to my hockey-playing Canadian dad who had all six of us on the ice almost daily growing up (we all loved it). Years later, my family stood on Olympic ice in a different way — my sisters competing in figure skating at the Salt Lake 2002 Winter Olympics and the Torino 2006 Winter Olympics.
Now I’m a figure skating and hashtag#hockey mom, watching my goalie daughter and her teammates grow up in a world with more opportunity and visibility than ever before. There was no hashtag#womenshockey event until 1998. As four-time Olympian Angela Ruggiero Ruggiero has shared, she came home to no post-Olympic tour, no pro league, and little pay — even paying taxes on a modest medal bonus.
The progress in women’s hockey is real. The speed, skill, physicality — it’s elite sport, period. Packed arenas for the new PWHL. Momentum driven by so many leaders and advocates, including the Women’s Sports Foundation. And most importantly, young girls who no longer question whether they belong.
But parity isn’t just about participation. It’s also about framing.
A few things that still matter:
–It’s women’s hockey and men’s hockey, not “hockey” and “women’s hockey.” Language shapes perception.
–It’s wonderful to see partners and kids supporting women athletes at the Games. But dads caring for their children aren’t “troopers” or doing something completely out of the ordinary. They’re parents.
–Women’s hockey is compelling on its own. It doesn’t need repeated in-game interviews with male players to validate it.
–And when possible (a tough one), let’s not schedule the women’s gold medal hockey game opposite the women’s figure skating long program. We can celebrate more than one women’s event at a time.
None of this diminishes how far we’ve come. In fact, it reflects how high the standard now is. Let’s go USA.
Category: Working Motherhood
The Meaning of “Mother”
I know it’s Mother’s Day but I wanted to share this picture of my kids and their father because he does so much of what we see often think of as “mothering” – the care and feeding of others. In his case, it’s the lion’s share of the childcare, as it evolved from infant and toddler care to adolescent care and (the hardest) teenage care, all of the cooking and the laundry and most of the errands. I know he is not the only one.
Continue reading The Meaning of “Mother”
Is Cleaning Up Women’s Work?
This post appeared in Role Reboot.
The second woman to occupy 10 Downing Street offered to step down if Parliament passed her latest Brexit plan. Though lawmakers rejected it, Theresa May’s apparent “sweetener” marks the latest instance of female executives rising to power in times of crisis only to shoulder the blame for that crisis itself. The pattern is all too clear.
Stelly
We lost our beloved Estelle Lana Pastarnack – Stelly or Nana to many – on July 6, 2016.
She was an outspoken and strong woman who loved red lipstick that left a telltale mark when she kissed your cheek. She loved designer shoes – especially if they were discounted at Loehmanns. She adored “making parties” and fur coats. She also could not resist a good hot dog, no matter what diet she was on.
Most of all she loved her four children, ten grandchildren, four great grandchildren, her nieces and nephews and her friends.
Continue reading Stelly
The Long View of Working Parenthood
Last week I had the fortune of being interviewed by Dr. Portia Jackson of workingmotherhood.com for her podcast. We had a lot of fun talking about challenges and successes. I talked about treating each child as an individual, which can be a challenge with twins. (This article in Time about twins and gifted programs resonated with me as we submit our applications for public middle school this week – yes, applications because we have no zoned school.) Continue reading The Long View of Working Parenthood
Abigail and Her Sisters
We all tend to read our own lives through the biographies of others. We judge their challenges, successes and failures through the prism of our own. So when I came to Diane Jacobs “Dear Abigail: The Intimate Lives and Revolutionary Ideas of Abigail Adams and Her Two Remarkable Sisters,” published this spring, I took a very personal approach. Continue reading Abigail and Her Sisters