Women have been and always will be multifaceted. To be many-sided comes with its ups and downs. As a modern woman, sometimes it’s hard to decide if a career is what you want or if love is the ultimate goal. Often we find ourselves wanting both. However, no one wants to chase their dreams alone.
Jo March from the movie adaptation of “Little Women” puts it ever so plainly what every young woman feels when deciding her future. Is your job the most important thing? Or is getting married and starting a family? What if we want both? How do we do both?
I’m sick of being told that love is all a woman is fit for. I’m so sick of it. But…I’m so lonely.
-Jo March
A Double-Edged Sword
When a woman is faced with choosing between love and success, it almost seems natural to say that “love conquers all.” Nonetheless, the image of what their career could have been eats away at many women who choose love over labor.
However, this doesn’t mean you love your children or partner any less. It’s feeling like you can only have one or the other that makes this dilemma so forbidding. Many women who put their all into a career are envied by those who choose to raise a family. Those at home spending formative years with their kids have women working crazy hours yearning for time at home.
It seems that no matter what you do, either way, you’re going to be unhappy. Whether that’s loneliness or floods of “what could have been.” However, viewing it as this “one or the other” sanction is an expectation no one should have to live up to. There really is no true right or wrong decision. The point is that it’s yours. Doesn’t mean it’s easy, but it’s up to you to decide how you live your life and that’s the beauty of it all.
Have your Cake and Eat It Too
Trying to “do it all” can be exhausting. Having the career you so ever dreamed of on top of raising multiple children can make you resent both. However, this article does not address how to solve this dilemma. There is no “right” way to be a woman. No one is saying you have to choose. Many women do both and do it all with a smile on their face. Those are the true superheroes.
Women, do you find yourself pondering this “dilemma?” Let us know your thoughts by tweeting us @VALLEYmag on X!
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