Recently, there has been a great deal of debate and opining about the role of women in military combat. While reading the various points of view, I was struck by how many women I know who have taken on less than traditional roles.  I remember my mother coming home from a job interview in the 80’s annoyed that she had been asked during an interview what she would do if her kids got sick, pointing out that a man would have never been asked that question.  There have undoubtedly been changes in the work force, but have things changed for women in male dominated industries?

Cheryl Lavette is the Georgia State Coordinator for Smart Girl Politics. In her very limited spare time, she is leading a successful and active state group while working in a high stress industry with extensive travel requirements.  She is Vice President/Director of Sales and Distribution and a Registered Investment Advisor for an Investment Advisory Firm and has been in the industry since 1998.  I was not the first to ask her about why she chose this avenue. In fact, she was asked the same question by an advisor recently, because even today, few women choose this career path.  And, while most of us have experienced equality in the workforce, Cheryl was asked recently by a portfolio manager, “Don’t you think men make better sales people?”

The Meanest Mother by Bobbie Pingaro (1967) 

I had the meanest mother in the whole world.

While other kids ate candy for breakfast, I had to have cereal, eggs or toast. When others had cokes and candy for lunch, I had to eat a sandwich. 

As you can guess, my supper was different than the other kids' also. But at least I wasn't alone in my sufferings. My sister and two brothers had the same mean mother as I did. 

My mother insisted upon knowing where we were at all times. You'd think we were on a chain gang. She had to know who our friends were, and where we were going. She insisted if we said we'd be gone an hour, that we be gone one hour or less--not one hour and one minute. 

I am nearly ashamed to admit it, but she actually struck us. Not once, but each time we had a mind of our own and did as we pleased. That poor belt was used more on our seats than it was to hold up Daddy's pants. Can you imagine someone actually hitting a child just because he disobeyed? Now, you can begin to see how mean she really was. 

Every once in a while, I recall a cringe-worthy conversation I had just after finishing college. I was telling a friend that I was never going to have children. At the time, I thought that there were bigger and better things out there for me than motherhood, and I wasn't shy about letting people know. “That’s selfish,” my friend responded.

Selfish? Selfish!? “How dare he!” I thought. Emphatically, I informed him that is in fact, selfish to procreate in a world that is overcrowded and is full of hungry children anyway.

What an indoctrinated young fool I was.

This short, yet meaningful, past exchange came to mind when I ran across an article, “Mother of Two Says Young Children Biggest Regret of Her Life.” Intrigued, I began to read, expecting to find some sort of backpedaling from a title I figured existed solely for its attention grabbing proclamation.

Unfortunately for many reasons, Isabella Dutton, the author of the article, doubles, triples and quadruples down on her assertion. With harsh statements like (emphasis added), “I resented the time my children consumed. Like parasites, they took from me and didn't give anything meaningful back.”

Political Correctness is out of control.  Americans have to watch what they say, write and think in order not to offend someone who may possess different beliefs.  Political correctness has oppressed Americans for so long that we are now scorned or ridiculed for questioning government authority.  We the people have literally voted our rights away over the years. Now that the majority of America is starting to wake up to it, the ruling class, along with the media, have turned political correctness on hyper-drive to clear a path of excuses to justify making government more powerful for our own good.

The regressive economic consequences that have taken place due to political correctness have placed America in financial and social turmoil.  How many laws or quotas must Americans abide by in the name of fairness or equality?  Business owners and managers have had to tip toe around issues because they are afraid of being sued for discrimination or some type of harassment.  The only way a firm can run efficiently is to allocate its limited resources to the best contender for the job.  How can that happen if that firm cannot give and receive the feedback needed to reach optimal output?   Political correctness has created a hostile business environment that undermines effective decision making by bullying and scaring people to the point that they cannot execute day to day operations without the fear of being targeted as a racist or sexist.  You want proof?  How many firms can you think of that actually take time away from producing for sensitivity training?

If there is one thing that can be said of our president it is that the President does indeed like to finger-wag and insert himself into national news, many that have nothing to do with him (except maybe what his son might look like, if he had one). He has held beer summits, and called Sandra Fluke to comfort her after she was called a name by Rush Limbaugh. He's very concerned about the dangers of football. In the wake of the Gifford's shooting, an event which did merit his attention, he called for civility in public discourse - and we would expect that he might do the same post-Boston. But, it seems his finger wagging is reserved for a certain set of ideas from certain kinds of people.