The Atlantic’s new ladyblog hasn’t launched yet, already disappoints
In the wake of Ann Marie Slaughter’s traffictastic “having it all” article, The Atlantic is launching a new vertical about work/life issues. A job announcement for the site says The Sexes will be “devoted to the intersection of work and family” and cover issues like “work-life balance, parenting, gender issues, and family economics.”
Sounds cool, right? I mean, we absolutely need more smart coverage of parenting and work issues. Maybe this blog could even fill some of the gaps in Slaughter’s piece - like how it framed parenting woes as just women’s problem, omitting men from the conversation almost entirely.
There doesn’t seem to be much reason for optimism on this front, though. The announcement says the site will have a “special focus on how women are navigating their careers as they juggle roles of mother, daughter, and wife.” So The Sexes will just be about one sex.
I’m wary of ladyblogs as it is - but this irritates me on a whole other level. By creating a work/life site that focuses only on women, The Atlantic is sending a very clear - and very influential - message: Parenting is women’s problem. It’s sad, because the magazine has a real opportunity to start a national conversation about children and parenting that could create change. But it seems almost certain that this will just be more of the same. I hope they prove me wrong.
