Okay, Boomers
In the 20th mid-century, soldiers returning in huge numbers from World War II brought on the Post War Baby Boom.
People born at this time, obviously, came to be called Boomers.
The Closed Door Baby Boom has a nice rhyme to it, but in other ways, our world is unprepared for more non-planned babies, which may emerge from couples sheltering in place with little to do.
It is fair to say that those born into prosperity and a New Deal, then, were very much more Okay, then babies today.
This pandemic presents a very different reality from the 1950’s and 1960’s. Women today have both fewer options, and more cultural constraints than “traditional stay at home mothers”, and there are many, many reasons for this.
The first reason why a woman may question whether to move forward with planning a family is that — perhaps you noticed — there is a global pandemic on.
An Uncertain Future
No one knows the future at this moment. There are calls to re-open the world economy, and even more calls to stay safe until peak pandemic is past.
The Post War Baby Boom was a time of extreme prosperity and growth. Women who stayed home were not paid, but they were lauded to some degree. They had no choices about birth control, in most places, and they were far more conditioned to be blissful about floor wax than they were about powerful CEO professions.
Wage earning women, are, this time around in an enormous jobless economy. Their prospects for earning are curtailed at the very time when their services are being recognized (by some) and debated about everyone.
Can a mother pay for child care and commuting? Can she pay for an au pair, or nanny, when immigration is completely cut off? Can she depend upon her spouse, or even have a spouse to depend upon, when societal norms are so different today?
Health and wealth for women?!
Then there are the considerations about reproductive health. Even now, when a woman’s health should be just as paramount as every other person’s health, threats are being made that suggest women’s need for healthcare should just stand aside.
It is not just about abortion, either. Clearly, some people still want to punish women for being the one who gets pregnant, but this is also about cancer screening, breast health, as well as heart health, nutrition, and of course, respiratory health in a time of COVID-19.
It is appalling that in a time of global pandemic, and the revelations about inequity, that anyone should even consider forced birthing in uneasy times.
Choices
Women need to have autonomy. There is so much talk about liberty and autonomy right now in the public sphere. Who should get to go back to work? Who should be free to participate in sports, entertainment, retail and restaurant careers? If we want a healthy economy, we have to include women’s jobs in these sectors.
Even if we transition to work from home, how productive can parents be with children home twenty-four hours per day?
Will women lead the way in political change? Many are disheartened that every woman running for president was pushed aside as Biden and Trump compete for national “tough guy,” and it seems to many of us, the very worn out, age-old story, of older, rich, white, male domination.
Even so, women are very strong. We fought for the right to choose. We fought for equal pay. We fought for representation. We fought for #Me Too, and #Times up.
Women will rise to the occasion and seek representation. They will fight for the rights of people everywhere, both gender and race equity.
Stronger together
There is still great opportunity for women and men who love them, to stand up for care-givers, service workers, and couples who DO choose to make their Closed Door little Boomer a chance to live in a world with stronger support.
This was the world view in 1950. Let’s hope a greener, newer deal with favor health, support and equality.
Only constant struggle to end to the kind of exploitative treatment of people and planet that caused this terrible ordeal is going to allow us all to live in a healthier world.
Every under-represented potential mom, and even those who sacrificed in the way back times, need support and appreciation.
Every baby deserves to be loved, wanted, and planned for. It’s up to real men and real women, to create this world, if it is ever to be reality.
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Previously published on Medium.com.
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Photo credit: istockphoto.com