The first full-time woman referee in the NFL—what a huge story! Writer and photographer Anne Born is delighted at the news but highly critical of the way referee Sarah Thomas’ new job is being reported. This April 2015 essay was published on the blog The Broad Side.
Read it here: Born, "’Mother of Three’ to Ref for the NFL: What’s Being a Mom Got to Do With It?”
- Why does Born object to the inclusion of “mom” information in news articles about women? Summarize her argument briefly. Do you agree? Why or why not?
- Born frequently addresses her audience directly with the pronoun you and by posing questions, such as “Do you care?”, that expect immediate answers. Is her use of direct address an effective rhetorical device in this article? Why or why not? Explain your reasoning.
- Read (or re-read) Ellen Ullman’s essay in Chapter 20 of your text. Although Ullman makes no explicit mention of motherhood, how might she respond to Born’s argument? What advice might Ullman give to NFL ref Sarah Thomas?
- We often hear that being a parent is the most important job that a person can have. Born makes an accurate observation, however, that we seldom hear how many children a newsworthy man has. She asks if you know how many children the male governor of Indiana has, and she asks if you care. Should you care? Should the parenthood status of men be as essential a component of news reports and features as it is of women? Write an essay in which you respond to these questions. Using Born as your They Say, state your position clearly and explain your reasoning
They Say I Blog 
Born proposes women that are filling these “big shoes” whether it being a government position, or in this case a full-time NFL ref are being labelled as “mothers” as if it plays a role of the matter. Multiple women in the news today are having their label of “mother” being used in headlines as if it had to do with something when it really doesn’t. The vast majority of mothers today work, so what makes these people any different. Due to the fact that I am not a female or a mother, I can’t personally see why being labelled as a mother is so bad. Here many females would probably object that being labelled as a mother does degrade them, but I still can’t see how it is that bad. Most likely it is because I’m no where near qualified to be in those shoes, but I would see it as all the more reason to be proud.
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In every successful person, there is always a struggle story. Except, many people think that a women who is capable of working and being a mom are mind-blown. How can they handle life? However, I disagree that a women’s struggles go down to their kids. In this nation, there are many women that work today than the past. Women are the ones that have kids, so I believe that kids are the least of their struggles. Yet some people may challenge my view that the ability to balance home life and work life is amazingly difficult to do. I agree, since I’m not a female, but I would have the same struggles if I was single dad with two kids.
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Although I grant that the article is repetitive to my ears, I still maintain that some of what Born says is true. You do hear women, if they have children, being referred to in the news as mothers whether or not it has to deal with the topic. I say this is because of a combination of things. For starters, the public may have the preconceived notion that because this women is a mother, it automatically makes her an amazing person. I am not saying being a mother doesn’t make you an amazing person, but in relation to being a football ref, is it relevant? Born thinks that unless the topic is relevant to motherhood, that that fact should be omitted. Also, back in the olden days women were placed on a pedestal for raising the children. I can imagine you’d want to be known as a mother. That leads me to believe that that custom has carried over to the current ages, of an achievement to be proud of.
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Born suggests that many people in America are focusing their attention on the fact that a woman has two or three kids rather than the fact that, that same women is a senator of the US. Instead of talking about their accomplishments they talk about how hard it must be for that woman to balance work and family life. I agree to some extent, that people should not be focusing on the number of children a woman might have but they should focus on the things that the woman has done, but I don’t see why being a “mother of three” should be an insult. The way Born talks about it, makes that description seem insulting, but I don’t see anything wrong with it. Instead, it should be a good thing, since the woman has the ability to work and have a family at the same time.
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In this article, the author talks about what motherhood has to do with women accomplishments, and why it is mentioned when talking about women’s achievements. Born believes that the number of children that a women is raising has nothing to do with their achievements, which are mentioned by saying “Mother of Two” or “Mom dancing”; being a mom doesn’t mean that they cannot achieve something that someone else could. Born’s theory that motherhood should not be mentioned in women accomplishments is extremely useful because it sheds light on the difficult problem of women stereotypes. I think that this is a way of putting women stereotypes into use because once a woman is married and is raising children, they are not expected to make big accomplishments. Of course, many will probably disagree on the grounds that there is nothing stereotypical, or even offensive, about this since adding the fact that they are raising children adds on to their achievements in life. However, why is it that when men’s accomplishments are mentioned, the headlines do not say “Father of Two”? This would sound irrelevant and would not make sense to why the amount of children that he is raising affects the things he does. Back in the day, women and men were separated into two different categories where men were working and women were taking care of their children. We have come a long way and many things have changed, but the first thing that is still mentioned when women do things is their mother figure.
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When you look in the newspaper and see an article regarding a women, if she happens to be a mother, you will see this fact made a big deal of. Would it be the same if the article regarded a man? In her article, Anne Borne voices her confusion as to why whenever an article concerns a mother, it always focuses on this fact. A mother could have made a great accomplishment, and it will be ignored to ask her about how she manages to accomplish such a feat with children. You never see a father asked about his children and how he manages to take care of them. It’s as if people assume that mothers can’t be anything but exactly that, mothers. I don’t see why a mother can never get the recognition she deserves while ignoring the fact that she is a mother. Now, of course many will challenge my view by insisting that this is a great exaggeration, but I must disagree and ask them to look at the facts in front of them. Mothers are portrayed in the media as only mothers, and not as women who are capable of tremendous feats.
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Born’s article, “‘Mother of Three’ to Ref for the NFL: What’s Being a Mom Got to Do With It?” seems innocent at first glance but, when you delve deeper into the meaning of the article, you realize that it’s anything but. Her article presents very powerful claims by calling out the media for their inferiority towards women. It is disturbing to imagine that successful women, who have come so far in their careers, are still being labeled as just “mothers” and not of their accomplishments. Women have come so far in this past century and being identified as “Mother of Three” is not just degrading, it’s insulting to women in general. Yet some readers may challenge my view by insisting that Thomas is in fact a “Mother of Three,” that is true however, but that should not be her sole accomplishment that she gets credit for. Men aren’t acknowledged as “Father of ___” so why should women be? Women hold powerful positions, and yes she may have children but, I thought America long ago accepted that women can be more than housewives and mothers. Certain journalists, of course, may want to question whether because I’m a woman I may be objective and sensitive to this argument. That may be true but, I still concede that women should be acknowledged as more than just “Mother of ___.”
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Of course many will probably disagree on the grounds that successful women are almost always referred to as mother of a certain number of children, Born shows that this is almost always the case. On the one hand, I agree with Born that it does seem like something that happens a lot in the media, on the other hand I do not think it happens as much as she makes it seem. It seems almost impossible that every single famous woman that has mad some sort of accomplishment is always looked at as a “mother” in the headlines about them. Although it is an important piece of information to know, because it gives us insight that they are also raising children on top of all of these accomplishments, it shouldn’t be the first thing someone finds out about a successful woman in the title of an article.
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Why do we include “mother of x” into our dialogues when we talk about successful mothers. Or with successful jobs and kids. It is like we are saying that a woman is weak or of soft character. That is true, moms are soft and delicate people but they are also successful and many of them have children. So why do we bring up children when we talk about mothers? It is as if we are mocking the calling them weak or discriminating them. Women are weaker than men, both physically and they tend to get more emotional than men. When we talk about a successful mom we usually think about the amount of children she has and how she takes care of them. That is all good but also many women are as successful as men, if not more successful. Mothers are delicate people and I think we all should cherish our mothers. If you see your mom in tears make sure you comfort her because your mom is the person that loves you the dearest in this world. I will always be in debt to my mother from all the goods deeds she has done to me and the least I can do to her is love her. People, love your mothers.
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In her article, “Mother of Three” to Ref for the NFL: What’s Being a Mom Got to Do With It?”, Born addresses news coverage of coming NFL ref, Sarah Thomas, and the emphasis the news has put on the fact that she’s a mother of three children. Born believes that her being a mother is not relevant to the story, as she asks in her article, “So what did her having a baby mean to the story of her newsworthy career in football?”. Later in the article, she goes on to make statements such as, “Women are labeled in the news as “Mother of Two,” or “Mother of Three,” when nothing in the rest of their newsworthiness is about their being mothers.”, and then addresses the readers with questions including, “Yet, how many of you reading this can tell me, off the top of your head, whether or not the Governor of Indiana has children? Do you care? Is he ever referred to as a “Father-of-Three?”. The author also references other occasions in which women have been referred to as “mothers” unnecessarily through media, again supported her case. Some may argue that the publicity of one’s parenting situation may not be important or worthy of controversy, even claiming that including that information provides a sense of pride and greater importance behind their purpose. Although not all think as deeply as Born, regarding a topic that may go unnoticed by many, I find truth in the message she’s embedded in her article. Having read her article, I now notice the situations which she opposes and recall many occasions on which I’ve witnessed “Mother” used unnecessarily in the title of media reports. I agree with Born and I believe that it is a nonessential aspect to one’s life that is often publicized with lack of reason. At the closing of the article, Born makes a strong statement regarding Sarah Thomas, saying, “Let’s focus on her work. It’s wrong to diminish her achievements by counting the number of children she’s raising.” These words stood out to me while reading, as it allowed me to have a point of view I had not previously had on the situation. Along with being unnecessary, applying labels in general very well has the ability to “diminish” the achievements of individuals. The effects of labeling are more often negative, and can likely mask the value of an someone or an someone’s cause.
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Born objects to the inclusion of the title “mom ” in news articles because she believes that in many cases, it has nothing to do with the following article. She says mentions several pieces of evidence that show article titles or news headlines about women that include the number of kids they have, when in reality the interview has nothing to do with their children. I agree with what Born is saying because it is very unnecessary to state the amount of children a woman has when they are talking about something completely unrelated. While it is true that being a mother is something to be proud of, it does not necessarily follow that it needs to be stated in every headline, article or tv segment that is published about women.
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Born’s article suggests that many women nowadays are being titled “mothers” rather than focusing on the accomplishment that they achieved. Women are constantly being labeled on the news as “Mother of two” or “Mother of three”. When the labels hit, they don’t even recognize them for what they’re really on the news for. I find the article to be very compelling, to see the that women are actually being treated this way, even after they’re worked to prove themselves as being more than just “mothers”. Women hold very powerful positions and I find it so degrading, that people actually only think of women in that way. They shouldn’t be focusing on on labels, but on what they actually accomplished.
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After reading this passage about women being down graded for being a “Mom”, I’ve come to the conclusion that society just can’t except the fact that women are much more extraordinary then they seem to be. The author states a women who wants to be an NFL referee is being down graded and looked at differently because she is a mother of three. Of course, many will probably disagree on the grounds that yes, she is a women who most likely puts her kids first in her life, but does that make her less professional? Do you really look at women differently because they have children? A women who has children does not make them any less of a human being. Born cites that Michelle Obama, a mother of 2, a Harvard and Princeton graduate,is being put into the press as a mother. This extraordinary women is even being shown as a mother. I can’t quit come to the conclusion of what is so bad about being a mother. Why does it have to be put into the media that this women is a mother. Look at all of Michelle accomplishments, but oh right, she is a mother of 2. Women should be praised for being able to carry and birth a child.I highly disagree that professionals look at women being mothers before any of their Other accomplishments. Women should be able to accomplishment anything they want without the fear of being a mother.
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I believe that being a mother should not have to be the identities of women. Any women with children or without should not be defined by their life choices when it comes to their career. It’s important to realize how far the fight for women’s equal rights in the workplace has come and that women can have a career other than a homemaker. Although not all traditionalists think alike, some of them will probably dispute my claim that women can successfully balance a career and motherhood. However, one must realize that if men can be fathers and have a job why can’t women live the same lifestyle? One could even bring up the fact that stay-at-home dads are now in existence, so sometimes the roles of women and men fifty years ago are switched to an opposite situation. Even though there are still challenges for women in the workplace that are created by old stereotypes, I fully believe that women have the same chance as men when it come to having a career and a family.
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On the one hand, I agree with Ann Born that women should not be noticed for their accomplishments just because they are mothers. But on the other hand, I still insist that being a mother with kids and a job is harder than being a single or childless woman. This does not mean that women without children should not be noticed and congratulated for their accomplishments in their field of work. News teams should recognize women who accomplish something great no matter if they have children or not.
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In our current social status as a nation, the female persona is often embodied with the assumption of “motherhood”. Of course the importance of motherhood is always there and we may take it for granted; that one part of Thomas’ life has nothing to do with the accomplishment she has done. The way the media handles the view of women may be viewed as a negative tone or a more degrading tone, but I assume that it really all depends on the article itself. Regardless of the media’s undertone, I view Thomas’ as a pioneer for a women’s accomplishments in professional athletics.
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In her article, “Mother of three: Anne Born wonders why we need to always know”, she explains to the reader how “Thomas is hardly the first woman of significance to be highlighted with the “mom” brush”. Of course, many will probably disagree on the grounds that informing people of how she’s a mother will change people’s view. Here, many feminists would object that this is an essential piece of information, because it inspires stay-at-home moms to do more. I personally feel that it has no effect, so having the headline be focused on her maternity is unnecessary. The majority of mothers have their own jobs too. They balance working full time and caring for their child(ren); and, so do fathers. America as a country makes a huge deal about gender, which is certainly good in areas like equal pay, but is unnecessary in articles like this.
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Borns insists that women should not only be recognized for their actions as a mother but for their actions as a human. She claims that the media acknowledges women solely as a mom instead of as an accomplished women. Here many feminists would probably agree with Borns, stating that woman can be so much more than just a mother, and don’t get enough credit for their other accomplishments. Yet some people, like myself, would have to disagree and say that women do get credit for their achievements. Although women are primarily pointed out as being mothers what is wrong with that? Isn’t being a mother a great achievement already? I understand some women want more recognition, but why is being called a mother in the media so wrong? Overall I believe women should not complain about being called a mother in the media.
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In the article “Mother of Three”, writer Anne Born discusses how women with children are always defined by that aspect of their life. Nothing else they have, can, or will do in their life is displayed. Born writes about how full time NFL referee Sarah Thomas made headlines with her newfound job in the male dominated business.The headlines about her being a mother was unnecessary and irrelevant. She advocates that this reduces women to just motherhood and has the potential to be misogynistic stereotypes. Understandably articles are trying to catch readers attention but, it takes away a whole part of its population that has the potential to do great things for our country and further American success. If us as a society worked on being optimistic and became aware of the stereotyping towards women, we could take advantage of all the wonders that women can achieve.
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In the article “Mother of Three”, writer Anne Born discusses how women with children are always defined by that aspect of their life. Nothing else they have, can, or will do in their life is displayed. Born writes about how full time NFL referee Sarah Thomas made headlines with her newfound job in the male dominated business.The headlines about her being a mother was unnecessary and irrelevant but apparently more important than her new job. She advocates that this reduces women’s statuses to only motherhood and this creates the potential to be misogynistic stereotypes. Understandably articles are trying to catch readers attention but, it takes away a whole part of its population that has the potential to do great things for our country and further American success. If us as a society worked on being optimistic and became aware of the stereotyping towards women, we could take advantage of all the wonders that women can achieve.
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In her article for the New York Times, “What’s being a mom got to do with it?”, Anne Born brings up a controversial topic: women. Sarah Thomas has been recognized for being one of the first women to become an NFL referee. Despite her accomplishment, her headlines tend to read “Mother of Three”. Born and I argue that the number of children she has isn’t relevant to her success. The newscasters seem to disagree, continually mentioning the parent aspect of a woman’s life before her accomplishments. Motherhood is a very big and gratifying experience in a woman’s life but does not need to be at the forefront of all her news stories. Many feminists will tend to agree with Born’s standpoint along with my own. A woman shouldn’t just be known for her home life; being an NFL referee is a newsworthy story as well.
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Anne Born describes how women should not only be recognized for their actions has a mother but for their own individual actions as well. Sarah Thomas made headlines with her new job as being a full time NFL referee, which just happens to be a male dominated job; but the headlines still say “Mother of Three”. What does being a mother have to do with her new job? That fact about her is completely irrelevant to what the main idea of the article is. Yes, the article’s title is trying to capture the reader’s attention, but it is beyond the point of the article itself. The number of children that she has doesn’t change the accomplishments that she has made. A women should not just be known for her personal life, getting her new job should be just its own article.
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In news articles written about tremendous women, a continuous pattern is used when describing these women- “Mother of X”. In “Mother of Three” to Ref for the NFL: What’s Being a Mom Got to Do With It? Born writes about Sarah Thomas and her great accomplishment making headlines everywhere. Thomas is the first woman referee for the NFL. Born stresses the fact that whenever an article is written about a woman and her terrific accomplishments, the article accentuates the ‘Mother’ part. The idea of a woman being a mother over shadows the importance of her impact and triumphs. In efforts to connect with the reader, Born asks the reader why dont articles mention when a man accomplishes something and is referred to as the “father of X”. As a woman, you might make a presumption on what my thoughts and feelings are on this article and or situation. I feel as if sometimes a reporter will refer to a woman as a “mother of X” because they recognize and want to accentuate that this woman has done X, Y, and Z while taking care of x amount of kids. Showing that she is strong. On the other hand, I feel as if the “mother of X” is used in a derogatory way. For such a long time, women were portrayed as weak and not usually the one to have a job when in a relationship. It is possibly used to say “this mother of X did this” to emphasize the fact that she did this, when she should stick to being a mother. Overall, I believe Born’s article is insightful on gender roles in society today.
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In the article it discusses how women are being degraded from their great achievements by just being recognized as a mother. Although being a mom is something to be proud of it usually has nothing to do with their accomplishment. While it is true that these women are also mothers of a number of children, it does not necessarily follow that they are the first lady, the first female NFL ref, author, etc. Introducing the fact that they have children is mostly there just to make their lives seem busier, but is it also saying that if they weren’t mothers it wouldn’t be as impressive?
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In discussions of “Mother of Three”, a controversial issue is whether if mothers are allowed to teach sports while they have to take care of children. while some argue that it doesn’t matter, as long as they can do it and it’s a living, others contend that they need to be more focused on their kids than teaching sports. I agree that the mother can choose if they need to be with their kids or not.
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Born objects the inclusion of “mom” in the news or articles about women because it’s as if nobody cares about the person’s accomplishments, but only the amount of children they have. And I completely agree. If someone is going to display someone’s accomplishments they should not include that they are a “mom” or how many children they have. Although some readers might object, because the title “mom” might add a little bit of “aw” to the article. It states that a mother who has a lot of work to do at home and has done something incredible. I think taking care of children isn’t easy and and people might say that if the mother accomplished a goal of hers then it should be displayed. Nevertheless, both people who agree or disagree can make great points for why they should or should not talk about the amount of children a mother has.
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Born objects the inclusion of the title “mom” in articles concerning women because it simply does not matter. It adds nothing to their credibility as, say, an author or doctor. If anything, it takes away from what they really are, and makes it seem like women can be nothing important except a mother. Being a mother is completely irrelevant to someone like Born’s title or role in the workplace, yet it is constantly mentioned. Of course, many will probably disagree on the grounds that being a mother is an extremely important, honorable and a respected title to have, and possibly a woman’s greatest and proudest accomplishment. I concede that it true, but I would argue that in a place of work, it does not matter. If men are not identified with the number of children they have in that same context, why should women be?
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In her article, Born objects to the inclusion of “motherly “status to accomplice news stories. She notes that even when the information that she is a mother is entirely irrelevant to the subject it is brought up anyways. My own view is that adding that someone is a mother is in some ways relevant. In instances where it accompany a major accomplishment, it does in some ways add to the awe factor by representing the women as an even more remarkable, well rounded woman who can “have it all”. Nevertheless, both followers and critics will probably suggest otherwise and argue that when a man is brought up in a news story he is not introduced as “father of 2”. On one hand ,I agree that yes it is strange and somewhat sexist that “fatherly” status isn’t included in major news stories regarding men.But on the other hand, I still insist that it is not a bad thing to be pegged as “mother of 3”, when noted of your accomplishments because being a mother is an accomplishment of its own. Yes it is true that both women and men can have kids and still do great things in life , and I feel it is unfortunate that father aren’t recognized for being as extraordinary as mothers.
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An NFL referee, as well as a mother of three, Borne does it all beams reporters. But, how exactly do these two very different accomplishments correspond with each other? The simple answer is; they don’t. Borne, herself, feels offended by this interpretation made by reporters. What exactly does it mean? Many say that this excess comment was in no means made to offend or harm, and was mindlessly added. At this point I would like to raise some objections that have been inspired by the skeptic in me. She feels that I have been ignoring the deeper thoughts into the situation. Here many arguers would probably object that by adding “mother of three” to the headline, the reporter isn’t doing anything wrong. But, when have you ever seen “father of three” in the same headline of an accomplishment that could have been accomplished with or without children. It’s sad that nowadays we don’t even notice how we are discriminating woman, as it’s just about what we normally say. Are reporters purposefully trying to convey the message that mothers aren’t typically able to achieve things other than being a mother? That assumption is biased, in my belief, as woman have the ability to accomplish equal to what men can regardless of whether they have children or not.
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Anne Born, a columnist for the female oriented newsletter “The Broad Side” objects to the inclusion of “mom” information in news articles about women. The New York based writer opposes to the mention of motherly status in articles about women that have nothing to do with parenting or children. Born believes that women should be looked at for more than the number of children they have raised and urges the phasing out of headlines that lead with “Mother of three…”. The writer makes a point that articles about powerful men are never bannered “Father-of-Three” and there is rarely ever a mention that the man in question has children. Born simply wants women to stop be displayed in the media as mothers, but instead for their accomplishments or actions. She believes that hinting at someone being a mother may lead to someone questioning the woman’s ability to carry out her professional and motherly duties, when that should not be the focus at all. I agree will Miss Born because she makes realistic points on the tendencies of media today, I also concur with her view that we should move away from defining women by their maternal status and start defining them for who they really are and what they have done in their professional lives.
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Born manages to point out a lot of situations in society where women who are earning some sort of credibility, are automatically associated and titled as moms with “x” amount of children. She specifically brings up the situation where a woman named Sarah Thomas is known for becoming the first permanent NFL woman referee, but is a “Mother of Three”. What Born is trying to get across is that more people know of these women for being mothers of “x” amount of children, versus being known for what it is they are actually contributing to in society. Of course, many will probably disagree on the grounds that not all women who are being known for contributing something to society are associated with their number of children. In fact, many would argue that there are plenty of women who run for senate, governor, and other positions such as the presidency, who are known in society for the work and intellect they impose, rather than their kids and family life. While it is true that there are plenty of women out there known for things other than family, Born makes the point that it does not necessarily follow the fact that women who are making a vast difference in society are not only associated with what it is they’re contributing, but with the announcement that they are a mother, and a mother of “x” amount of children.
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In the Article of “Mother of three:Ann Born wonders why we need to know” the author claims that women aren’t as powerful since their job is to watch after their kids. I disagree. I believe that women are more than free to make decisions for themselves. In fact that most percentage of women’s population are too busy looking after their children but that doesn’t speak for all the women’s, because some women’s deserve rights as much as the men’s do.In today’s society women should have as much freedom as men’s do.
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In Anne Born’s article “Mother of Three” to Ref for the NFL: What’s Being a Mom Got to Do With It, Born discusses the sexism in the way we write about women compared to men. When talking about women in media you’ll often see or hear the headline “Mother of _ does _”. Even when the woman’s accomplishment has nothing to do with her children, they’ll still talk about the number of kids she has. Women can’t seem to be admired and looked up to for their accomplishments alone, but rather their status as a parent. We act like a woman’s only job is to have kids, and if she chooses not to then she’s looked down upon. How come we don’t look down upon men for not having kids? You’ll never see a headline saying “Father of _ does _” because of the differences in the way we view men and women. These differences are due to the sexism that sadly still exists today. Of course, many will probably disagree on the grounds of whether it’s sexism or not, but you can’t deny the different standards we use to judge men and women. It’s 2015 and it’s time for people to stop acting like sexism doesn’t still exist, and instead come together to make it a thing of the past.
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Anne Born, author of “What’s Being A Mother Have To Do With It?”, writes about her objection of the inclusion of “mom” information in news articles about women. Here many feminists would probably argue that women are many things other than just a mother. Born argues that by including a women’s motherly status in an article about a women’s achievements, it is downgrading to women by only recognizing them for being a mother. It defeats the purpose of congratulating someone, by point out distinctly what women are stereotypically known for; popping out babies. I would argue that this really points out the gender inequality in our society. Yet many may challenge my view by pointing out that being a mother is not the easiest job and does deserve credit. I would say that this is a valid point, but being a mother should not be the only thing a women is known for. It is very ironic that this article is about a women crossing the gender boundaries by becoming a female ref, and she’s only credited for her motherly status rather than her accomplishments. I agree with Born that the inclusion of “mom” information is unnecessary and overall, degrading.
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It has become common in media today to find news stories about women to be entitled “Mother of Three…” or “Mother of Two…”. Ann Born has recently brought up the problem how common sense seems to dictate the fact that when women do something, it is important to note that they are mothers and have children, and they are known as a “mother”, not a politician, not a criminal, not a teacher. Although these writers have never said it directly, they are giving the impression that if women have children, whatever they did is more surprising or newsworthy. While I agree with Born that you see many news stories about women labeled with the amount of children they have, she exaggerated when she claims that it is nothing that makes the case more interesting. Having and raising children does cause more stress and is more responsibility for women. If you see an article about “Mother of Three Steals From Local Grocery Store” , there is most likely a reason that the author put the info about how she has children in the report. The reporter probably found it important to note that she was a mother, perhaps as a reason for the crime. Born, of course would probably want to argue that there are never any stories named “Father of Two…” or “Father of Three…” like there are for women. Why are men never accounted for having children when they do something? Well, this can be explained by the fact that being a mother is a huge role. Generally, although I do not completely agree with this, mothers are given more responsibility over the children and expected to give more care for them. So if these “mothers of three” do something great like become the first female NFL referee they should be applauded for their hard work and effort. In conclusion, I argue that having multiple children adds an extra responsibility on women, so it is okay to include it in a story and emphasize it.
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Anne Born, author of “What’s Being A Mother Have To Do With This?”, writes about her objection about how women in the world do something it is important, and that they may be known as a “mom” and have kids. Writers are giving the impression that if women in the world have kids, what they’re doing is not as “noteworthy” or important as other women in the world without children. I do agree with Born as she writes about all these news headlines about women and how many kids they have, she exaggerated a bit when she assumes that it’s nothing that makes it more intriguing. Mothers are basically being downgraded in the “social scale” by having kids. In the news, it’s always about the women and the kids. Nothing about the father and the kids. There is sexism still out there today. Feminism exists, yes, but it’s just not enough. Women are basically only credited for their motherly status, and not their accomplishments in life. In the end, Born is correct with how the word “mom” is an unnecessary trait in looking into a woman. She’s a mom, so what? She’s done other important things in life as well. Being a mom is not a sin, or a bad thing. Bringing another life into the world takes a lot of courage, and that’s why I side with Born. Being a mom has nothing to do with their social status.
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Barack Obama is a father of two, and the president of the United States. How is he able to juggle such a difficult lifestyle? That’s something you don’t hear everyday. If someone is going to be pointed out with their paternal status it will most always be a mother, not a father. How can a woman hold a job AND be a mother at the same time? Magic? Women are supposed to stay at home with their kids all day, so how can they have both kids and a job?! Because of this mindset, when addressing a woman with a tough job, most find that they are complementing said woman by also including “mother of 2,3,etc.” in the title. Is it a complement though, or is it undermining the power of the woman in question? Anne Born discussed this motherly title in her article, “‘Mother of Three’ to Ref for the NFL: What’s Being a Mom Got to Do With It?” when speaking on how the first woman to be a permanent referee in the NFL was given the title of “mother” in her headlines touching on her new job. Born goes onto question why using the motherly title for this new female referee was an important piece of information, and how it usually seems to be included for the titles of women and not men, even though (shockingly) they can be fathers too. While is is true that being a mother is one of the greatest and toughest jobs out there, it does not necessarily follow that if a woman obtains a quality, paying, and recognizable job that she needs to be pointed out at a mother. Yes, she’s a mother. Spectacular. She’s also a hard working human being who is here in order to work and be seen for what she does in the job place. Recognizing a woman as a mother in the way the media has done has turned into a way to gain sympathy for the woman. Women didn’t ask for your sympathy. All women as for is equality. Treat women the same way as you would any other person, because yes, although mothers seem like some amazing superheros who are able to handle families and jobs with ease, they are in fact a human, and gender should not define who they are.
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Born address in her article the recent labeling in media of women being called “mothers”. She points out how women in the media are being labeled as “mother of two” or mother of three” too often. She claims that there is nothing significant in that labeling and it doesn’t relate tot the news story at all. She argues that women are being degraded and only looked at for their motherhood instead of their accomplishments. Although it may be true that it is degrading and taking away the emphasis on their personal achievement, being a mother is a big achievement enough and sometimes people overlook that. I won’t ever be a mother in my life so my opinion may be invalid but I believe that motherhood is one of the most important and crucial part of our culture today.It shouldn’t be looked at as “degrading” or “labeling” but instead as a proud accomplishment that not everyone can achieve. In conclusion I agree with Born to a certain degree, but once it comes down to the basic facts motherhood is one of the most important achievements a mother could have.
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In the article, Born, “‘Mother of Three’ to Ref for the NFL: What’s Being a Mom Got to Do With It?”, when it comes to the topic of being a mother, most of us will readily agree that being a mom is a huge responsibility. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of does being a mom interfere with Born’s career choice? Whereas some are convinced that being a mother means being a stay-at-home mom, others maintain that mothers, too, can have a career which doesn’t involve staying at home all day. While it is true that being a mother and having kids is a huge responsibility, it does not necessarily follow that Born can have children and not do anything else or have a good career job.
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The Article “Mother of Three” to Ref for the NFL: What’s Being a Mom Got to Do With It?” points out that a mother’s who accomplished something are titled “mother of 3” or “Mother of 5” ect. For example she talks about Sara Thomson who is likely to become the first permanent referee for NFL, but some stories written about her, focus more on her being a mother. This, Ann argues takes away the focus from the main point, and underestimates the accomplishment. But this really depends at what you think of mothers who involved in something else. Nowadays women are expected to have a job, in addition to taking care of their children. I think that it’s amazing if a women is successful in both. But as Anne Born argues many might think that mothers who are successful in their career are “ reduced to just a struggling Mother of–” in articles. Many might say women aren’t treated equally, but I think that the reason nobody mentions “A Father of —” is because men were usually the ones supporting the whole family. So women are given more credit when they manage to do both successfully. It doesn’t underestimate their achievements.
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Our main problem is that we get so caught up about superficial things that we forget what the real argument is, or in this article, the real achievements she has. Sarah Thomas is just a normal human being with different body parts compared to a male, that happened to have children, nothing more nothing less. There shouldn’t be anything that they see unnatural in her situation. What’s worse is that we forget all her amazing aspects, the fact that she wrote a book and won a Pulitzer prize for it, and that she is able to manage being an NFL referee and taking care of three children. I don’t want to say that it’s also amazing because she’s a female and is a referee in NFL, because ANYONE CAN BE AN NFL referee, being a female referee is just as big of an achievement as a male also becoming a referee in NFL, disregard and throw away the way of thinking that she is amazing just because we think that it’s really hard for a female to do what males do, and just think of it just being amazing because its not amazing or extraordinary if a female achieve what a male achieves, it’s only normal for every human being to be as good as another human being. Men should stop their beliefs of us being a better person just because we think we’re stronger.
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In this article I agree with Born, this information on if someone is a mother or not is irrelevant when talking about her position as a full time NFL ref. She is officiating pro football games, this has nothing to do with the fact that she is a mother, so why should we know this information. Skeptics might question if her mind is always on the game, or maybe she is thinking about her other responsibilities at home. This is not a good argument as she should always be thinking about the game if she is a professional. The media wants us to know this because they classify women as people who stay at home when they have kids, so they need to point out that they have children. But what about the fathers they too have children but that is never pointed out as it is with the women. They too have responsibility with the kids, so while the mother is away reffing the kids it isn’t her responsibility to watch the kids. It is the father’s. As this article points out, I believe, we don’t need to know if our women NFL refs are mothers or not. It isn’t our business or our concern.
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In this article the headline starts off of the woman’s position at home then states her big accomplishment. Although not all people think alike, some of them may dispute my claim that women should not be recognized for being mothers. Being a mother is great and a challenging task at times. A women should be known for her accomplishments. Personally speaking, in any article or news program there is no need to add the fact that any woman is a “mother of three.” Here in the world today women should not be labeled by the amount of children or by if they are a mother or not. My theory as to why this happens is not to be negative, but to show sympathy. Raising kids is challenging; but if you are a woman raising kids, while accomplishing great things, people show sympathy if they know some of the background story.
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Mom’s have always been the greater part in a family, they keep it sane, orderly, and maintain what is needed throughout the day, of course, many will disagree with me say that Mom’s have no place on the field. Why is it so many people believe that females don’t belong in certain sports? Is it purely sexism? Well some may say it’s because of the way they are built, but as a referee you don’t need to be exactly fit nor is it very demanding. I feel that it is a rather good idea that they put more women into referee positions, they can maintain a calm clear head while many men might become furious.
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Headlines of “Mother Of 2 Does x” or “Mother Of 4 Has x” are always heard over the news. Of course, many will probably disagree on the grounds that these “headlines” aren’t important to them; they’ll probably see that what’s in the article is more important than the headline. But who are they kidding? They’re not fooling me! I can speak for most people, and tell you straight off that most people’s eyes wonder and stick like glue to the headline claiming a mother of how-many-kids had done whatever. “If it’s a mother, it’s more important” so called nowadays. Although most people will tell you that it doesn’t matter if the woman is a mother, it really does matter to them. People assume that news about a woman (who has children or a child) show that they’re hardworking. But that’s not true. There are mothers out there who have killed their own kids. It doesn’t matter what gender the person is, nor if they have kids or not. What matters is what they have accomplished and how it can help society/the world. That’s what we should be paying attention towards nowadays.
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Being a mother should not define being a woman. Women are more than capable of obtaining a job other than a “stay at home mom”. Although not all firm believers think the same, some of them will most likely disagree with my claim that women can balance their career and motherhood. Nowadays, even the role of stay at home dads are becoming more common. Although women still have to deal with the stereotypes regarding their careers and motherhood, they most definitely have the same chances as men.
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My whole life I have heard the word “mom” used as the only title to describe women who have accomplished much more in their lives than simply bearing children. When the first woman in history earns a spot as a full time referee in the NFL, of course the label that plagues her immediately is the loving yet limiting word “mom”. Born argues that including “mom” in news articles about women is unnecessary and that if no one is using “dad” to describe men when they are featured in news articles, then they shouldn’t be using “mom”, and I agree. Some readers, of course, may want to question whether using “mom” has any influence on the way that a person is perceived by the audience. It is not just knowing that this woman has children, but the questions that come with the stigma that moms need to be the primary caretaker for their kids and that it is selfish or irresponsible for them not to be, as though they are abandoning their children. People tend to get an idea in their head that a woman’s main goal is to be this perfect “mom” that they imagine at the sound of the word, and unfortunately, they often begin to question whether she can fully commit to the position that she has taken away from the home and therefore she can be taken less seriously.
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In our society women are mostly defined and described by their association to other people. It is a way of diminishing them and their achievements, or making them seem dependent on others. In the case of identifying Thomas first and foremost as a mother, it is about implying the utmost importance of a woman being a mother, like that is the best thing she can do with her life. I think it’s all about keeping women down. This is just another example of the male-dominated culture we live in.
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We often hear that being a parent is the most important job that a person can have. Born makes an accurate observation, however, that we seldom hear how many children a newsworthy man has. She asks if you know how many children the male governor of Indiana has, and she asks if you care. Should you care? Should the parenthood status of men be as essential a component of news reports and features as it is of women? Write an essay in which you respond to these questions. Using Born as your They Say, state your position clearly and explain your reasoning
-Born makes the point that not it should not matter if a women has kids or not, she just wants to be treated equally and some say that because a women has children, they are not able to do certain things as the male sex or even others who don’t have kids. this is based off the biased opinion that women are meant to be stay at home moms and should be the one at home. But why is that? is it because women are looked at as weaker and shouldn’t be the one to carry the family? it should not matter whether or not it is the male of female they are looking at who has kids, just because a person has kids does not mean that they are incapable of being a good parent and a hard working employee of whatever profession they desire.
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I believe that Born’s rhetorical questions work well for this article, because it grabs the readers attention, and keeps them engaged with the article. When she asked how many kids the Gov. of Indiana had I thought about it, even though I didn’t know the answer to that question. Also when Born asks the question “Do you care?” I think about how I would feel if I was to be placed in that situation as these women are. I would not like the fact that I was getting referred to as “Mother of Three”, even though it’s not a bad thing because if you are able to raise children and have a job that is a huge accomplishment. Like Born said, “You will not see Mom robs bank” in the news, because no one needs to know that she was a mother. The only time when that is acceptable to include that is when the mother is in the news for something their child has done. Born makes general statements and includes rhetorical questions in her article mainly to keep the readers engaged.
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