The wealthiest man in the world and notorious Twitter pot-stirrer, Elon Musk has unsurprisingly gained a lot of attention for his latest tweet.
Musk, who is known for posting controversial and out-there tweets, offers a considerable source of contestation on Twitter, with many wondering if he’s actually being serious a lot of the time. One needs only to recall his viral pledge to fight Vladimir Putin to consider this.
However, Musk’s latest run with the platform was perhaps one of his most important, and led to conversations that need to be had, after he tweeted “Being a Mom is just as important as any career.” Hopefully, Musk was serious about this line.
Musk, whose youngest child with artist Grimes was discovered earlier this year after being kept a secret, is the father of 10 children with different women, including Canadian author Justine Wilson and Neuralink director of operations, Shivon Zilis.
It’s safe to say that Musk has had his fair share of knowing different mothers, and various aspects of motherhood from multiple perspectives.
Musk’s tweet, although succinct, ignited a debate on Twitter that if anything, was a reality-check on where the broader public stands on topics like motherhood today.
His take on this aspect of gender equality gained a lot of commentary, of which most were thoughtful.
Some shared that it is more important than any career, taking to “fix the tweet.”
@annamlulis/Twitter
Adding to this, a user shared that it’s more important than a career because “raising responsible humans is hard.”
They added that “the biggest compliment I ever received was when my son told someone that ‘My mom worked full time and was still a great mother’. Not saying it was easy, but it can be done.”
Others compared mothering multiple kids to a CEO title. “Being a Mom of 3 is like being a CEO of a company” one user shared, while others, like entrepreneur Anubhav Dubey expressed that it’s actually the ‘most difficult job role that exists on the planet.”
Feminism entered the debate, with some expressing that feminists wouldn’t agree with Musk’s comment. However, one user shot this notion down by emphasising that “we don’t think choosing to be a homemaker is bad, we think we should have the opportunity to choose…to have equal rights and opportunities.”
Soon, the topic of how being a stay-at-home mom is frowned upon today entered the building, with mothers sharing that they’re often judged based on the misconception that they ‘have it easy’.
“I am a stay-at-home mom and everyone thinks I have it so easy. It’s a lonely job. It’s a job that never stops. Moms don’t get breaks or nights and weekends off and we do it all for no pay and the judgment of the world.”
Food for thought for those who are quick to comment but have never put themselves in the stay-at-home mom shoes.
Many others added that being a father is just as important, questioning whether the comment should’ve replaced “mother” with “parent”. This opened a hotbed of contestation about the different roles mothers and fathers play in society. Some people fired back sharing that in the formative years of a child’s development, they are more likely to seek their mother. Others added that dads who take on the same nurturing role and even opt to be stay-at-home fathers also deserve the same recognition.
Then of course came the take that if motherhood were so important, it should be paid for, to which many agreed that government’s around the world should catch onto.
All in all, what Musk’s tweet did, was follow an important thread in conversations surrounding motherhood and misconceptions in the modern world.
Some women want careers to be their sole focus, and that’s okay. Others want to have both careers and family lives but can’t always do both – think Serena William’s recent interview on why she’s quitting tennis. Some men feel the same way in regard to both of the above. The importance here is choice, and respect for individual choices. If we could just get the monetary system to play ball, then the world would certainly be an easier space for (economically speaking) thankless ‘jobs’ that do deserve a lot more appreciation.
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FEATURE IMAGE: Twitter
