cartoon – pen & watercolour 9″ x 12″
Artwork & content Copyright Jean Burman 2008
Okay… I needed a spiel to put with the cartoon… so here goes.
It was something said over on John’s blog the other day which tripped this off.
Ellie commented and I quote:
“Real work” is a stay-at-home mom raising children. No pay…hardly any respect, but molding the lives of those who will determine our future.
My reply was predictable given my passion for the subject:
here here Ellie. Odd isn’t it? That the most important occupation on the planet receives the least attention and respect.
The Govt. here pays for childcare so both parents can go out to “work”. It doesn’t make sense. Why not pay the mother to do the job… after all she is best equipped to look after her own children. But what woman wants to live at the bottom of the food chain?
It’s time for a change of attitude… the future depends on it.
To which Lee replied:
Jean, Ellie, in my opinion the housewife and mother is the unsung hero of this nation. Strange to say that if there is no cash rewards, the job is not honored. Very mixed up world that we live in nowadays.
It occurred to me then… that this was not only a subject I felt passionate about. It was in all likelihood… a subject that lots of people felt passionate about! And especially those who have been through it. Motherhood that is. And the stay-at-home kind of motherhood… in particular.
It has always puzzled me… how a “valid” occupation… one that requires such a great deal of self sacrifice… (but which also “sets a person up” for success in so many different spheres of life)… can be so looked down upon and disregarded by society as a whole.
The brief for the job afterall… is extensive and exhaustive.
Applicants must be on call 24 hours per day 7 days per week 52 weeks per year for the term of one’s natural life (!)
The pay is lousy… (save for those priceless snuggles and adoringly cute little smiles)
Furthermore… in alphabetical order… applicants must be proficient in
(although one does have a lifetime in which to hone these skills… by the end of such time… one will be expected to have achieved excellence)
accounting/ bookkeeping and animal husbandry: breastfeeding/ burping and Bpay: cooking/ cleaning/ counselling and costume design: dress making and driving instruction: environmental management and the emptying of lunchboxes:
firefighting (the ability to “extinguish” between real and metaphorical in this area will be viewed favourably) garbage collection: hairdressing and homework administration: hostel management and homeopathy: isolation therapy and ironing: journalism and jury duty:
kitchen duties (including the ability to mindfully study the dynamic of the humble plughole – sometimes for hours on end – in the event of the dishwasher failing to work): laundry work and lecturing: market research/ maintenance and mathematics: naturopathy/ nannying and
nuclear medicine (essential for those somewhat curly 3rd grade science projects): pharmacology/ picture framing/ petrol pumping and plumbing: quarantining: recycling/ re-roofing/ re-tailing/ re-turning/ re-routing/ re-placing/ and let’s not forget “refusing” (and any number of other skills… too many to list… beginning with “re”…
which of course implies correctly that whatever the skill was in the first place… it must be done a-g-a-i-n) ~sigh~ and *wink*
in addition to (hah… thought I was done didn’t you?)
sewing/singing/ sports coaching/ stockbroking/ street cleaning/ speech therapy and surgery: taxi driving/telephony/anything to do with the theatre and toxicology: video production/vehicle maintenance and veterinary nursing: waitressing/web design/waste water recycling and window cleaning/and last but not least on the list…
zookeeping… which believe it or not is a pre-requisite skill for keeping the household in order… each in his or her own place… and at the feedbox at the appropriate time!
image – courtesy of lomokev Flickr
With all these skills clearly in abundance in the everyday stay-at-home Mum… can somebody please tell me why then… when mothers decide to re-enter paid employment they are so often [condescendingly] advised to re-skill? Re-skill? Re-skill for what? Having spent any number of years between 1 and 20… multi-tasking jobs at a rate their opposite gender counterparts could only ever dream about… who needs to re-skill?
Mothers are not only the Salt of the Earth…
they are the Spice of Life!
They are what makes the world go round!
Mothers should be placed up ON a pedestal… (not positioned in front of one with a brush!) *wink*
They are the people who are responsible for raising the people of the future. Their contribution must be valued.
And women need to cut each other some slack here too! Women should not be made to feel inferior and small for choosing to stay at home to do the very real work of rearing the family… and they must not be “guilted” into a return to paid work… (or a career)… in order to win society’s regard. [That's not to say that those who do choose to (or must) return to paid work should not be respected and supported in their decision to do so]
Motherhood… in all it’s modern day variations and forms… is still a hallowed institution… worthy of courtesy and deep respect.
So as the world hangs in the balance “awaiting the pendulum swing” that will see Mothers the world over treated with the equal respect they deserve… the future of human civilisation continues to depend upon them. Therefore it may not be too far fetched to suggest that the successful outcomes for generations to come… may hinge upon a Mother’s success at doing her job… (learning and adapting as she goes)… and doing it exceedingly well.
And as blind freddy can plainly see… that’s a rather BIG job in any man’s language! (chuckles)
“All that I am or hope to be… I owe to my Mother” – Abraham Lincoln
{ 1 trackback }
{ 58 comments… read them below or add one }
← Previous Comments
Artists usually take the road less traveled. It is difficult to find the right turns at the right time and you have to take the back dirt and gravel roads to find something you like and can do that makes an income. It is all a gamble.
Its a risk whatever you do, once you walk out your front door. A single action can lead to a chain of events. A chance meeting can be a lifetime of happiness or a moment of pure hell. I think as artists we “feel” more than see. And what we see, we can interpret in so many ways…that is not a road travelled often.
I think I sense Jean’s next cartoon brewing in her head. A person venturing off the beaten path with brambles in her hair and mud on her feet…but with an enormous smile plastered on her face…Perhaps the first road leads to the daily grind of the city and the second, the less traveled, meanders through a woods made of paintbrushes…and color…yes, must have color! Hmmm….
Come on Jean…get those “juices flowin’”!!!
Crikey you guys… no pressure or anything! *wink* (((chuckles))) I’m actually cooking up an interesting and slightly different angle on “the road” … (no surprises there! ~grin~) Should have the cartoon done this morning… and hopefully… in the absence of major roadblocks… the topic should be up tonight.
Cool banana’s Jean!!!!
I’m waiting Jean….(tic tock…)…
Aw, just kidding! Looking forward to your next one though!
FINALLY!
Major roadblocks this week… but the new topic is now up and awaiting your review. Thanks everyone… gosh… 57 comments… that’s got to be some kinda record?!
← Previous Comments