In the past few weeks I have dealt with people who have assumed because I am a mother, that I am nothing more. “Mother,” although probably the most fulfilling part of my life, does not define who I am, and it’s getting more than a little annoying to have to justify to people that I am more than what they think I am.
I remember when I was in high school, I was told: “You can’t afford college, you should probably just apply for a full time position at the post office.” I kept my grades up, applied to all the schools I could, got accepted to all of them, and was lucky enough to have my choice of where I wanted to go to college. I did the student loan thing, but made it through. Nobody was going to label ME poor and tell me what my future held.
I remember when I was in college I had an electronics professor that who me: “You’ll never be able to figure this out, women rarely do.” Although I was so angry that something so ridiculous was said to me, it was a great moment for me. It was my ‘Game on’ moment. I didn’t race and complain to the dean, because I knew that it happens all the time. Instead I made it my personal mission to answer every single question in his class. Nobody was going to label ME “just a woman”.
I remember when I went on maternity leave from a male-dominated major technology company. I could see the ‘shift’ in respect happening to me from the moment I announced I was pregnant. I knew that I would have issues gaining respect on my return from maternity leave, but after 10+ years in the industry I was disappointed to find myself almost at square one, having to prove that I wasn’t just a mother. I quit, and they asked me to stay. Nope. Nobody was going to label ME “just a mother.”
It pisses me off that today I find myself fighting the same battle, having to prove to that I am something other than a “just a mother.” Companies continue to target technology products to men. These companies need to realize that inside every mother and woman there are dozens of facets that define what it is to be a person. A bank card holding, credit card wielding PERSON. Woman and mother, just happen to be two of them.
Truth be told, this is why I was drawn to YMC, THIS is why I write what I write. There are geeks among mothers. Smart, beautiful, geeks, who share a love of technology and happen to have the mother thing in common, and now it’s time for technology companies to catch up. Stop targeting your technologies to “business men” and start targeting them to people.
So listen up high-tech, here I am. Krista. I am, among other things, a woman, mother, wife, geek , employee, runner, friend, wine lover, social media lover, smart phone user, internet savvy person who overcame obstacles to get where I am today. Like it or not, I’m staying right where I am. Now it’s time for YOU to change.
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