The Network Mayo 2010 season kicked off last Wednesday night with a launch in Days Hotel. In attendance were business women from across the county, representing a diverse spectrum of businesses.
Having listened intently to outgoing Network Ireland president Una Murphy’s inspiring talk, a number of questions nagged me throughout the night and into the following day.
Una spoke about ambitious women who are often labelled as hard nosed. She talked about the challenges that face women in business: flexibility, the importance of being innovative, and corporate and social responsibility.
She made reference to the Celtic Tigress, referring to the massive upsurge in women in the workforce in Ireland during the ‘90s.
The first question I began to ponder was whether a minority of women who are actually hard nosed individuals give the rest of us a bad name. You know the type. Those who think they need to stand on everyone’s toes and adopt an aggressive demeanour just to land that big job. We’ve all met them, nobody likes them, and I fear the rest of us can be wrongly tarred because of how they perceive they need to act to get by in the corporate world.
The second question got me thinking about an upcoming big event in my own life — the impending arriving of our first baby. The Celtic Tiger and all its offerings have led us to build and get used to a particular standard of living which is more and more difficult to maintain now that the tiger has been tamed. Now we’re caught in a cycle where women cannot afford to leave work for a period of time longer than the statutory maternity leave to care for their babies, otherwise bills would go unpaid.
I’m not criticising women who have made it to the top or who choose to continue working after their children have arrived. Bras were burned in the name of women’s rights for long enough and those rights must be protected. I just wonder have we reached a point where the role of the mother has diminished. As motherhood looms and discussions among my friends centre around whether I will return to work, I realise I don’t have the luxury of that choice, because I can’t afford it. It seems I’m a victim of my own success.
The other side of the coin is that I love my job and worry that if I ever left it I would lose my self worth and independence. I would no longer be invited to launches, etc; that would be my successor’s job. What would define who Toni Bourke is? Would I become Toni Mulroy, mother, former journalist/editor? The girl who showed promise before she gave it all up?
These are all real considerations which many women face. Some might say it’s vain. Others would wonder why you would ever want to give up your independence. But what is independence? Is it working in the corporate world, being innovative, dealing with stressful situations, wondering do ‘they’, the corporate bosses, even notice how much you do above and beyond what is required? Or is it leaving that behind? Embracing new challenges of motherhood? Focusing your energies on family life? Without the weekly pay cheque, being innovative to figure out how to make your new, lesser, disposable income meet your needs in an interesting way?
These are just the ramblings of a pregnant, hormonal woman who actually loves her job (most days ) and who has got used to a lifestyle borne out of the Celtic Tiger, which could never be sustained financially by staying at home. But they are real considerations and worries and are part of the ‘guilt’ culture which a very wise Una Murphy said women need to learn to let go of.
Toni Bourke Editor [email protected]
