Tragic Sandwich

So between Sheryl Sandberg, Elizabeth Wurtzel, Anne Marie Slaughter, and more, there’s a lot of talk about whether women can “have it all.”

The more I think about it, the more I think that phrase is meaningless. What is “all”? Is it work-life balance? Because that’s so individual–and depends on so many factors that we don’t truly control–that I’m not sure I believe in it.

But I have come across two statements that really resonate with me. The first is from Taiia Smart Young, who writes on My Brown Baby about choices, and “having what matters.”

The second is from Emily Rosenbaum, who in “Having It All” writes:

You want to talk about what matters to me as a feminist? Fistulas, FGM, rape, slavery, prostitution, domestic violence, healthcare, living wages, and maybe a bit of clean drinking water. Not whether some woman at Facebook thinks I should be holding down a full-time job.

Yeah. That sounds about right.

Photo by garryknight, via Flickr.