| Have a love/hate relationship with your favorite TV show and how the working mom characters are portrayed? Loathe the so-called "mommy wars" on which the news media love to focus? Each week, Meredith O'Brien's Working Moms in Pop Culture & Politics column provides a reality check on how TV shows, movies, books and the media depict working moms. A longtime journalist and mother of three, Meredith O'Brien teaches journalism at the University of Massachusetts, is the author of A Suburban Mom: Notes from the Asylum and writes the Picket Fence Post blog for GateHouse Media. |
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Tori & Dean.
When I received gentle nudging from my editor to write about one of her favorite shows, Oxygen network’s Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood, I joked that in order to get through this mission -- watching 10, hour-long episodes of the show -- I’d need some major margarita action. At the very least. more
Moms Seeking Medals.
I know that I’m supposed to be inspired when I watch athletes from across the globe who are currently competing in the Beijing Olympics. And, this year, there have been occasions when I genuinely have been inspired, such as during the Opening Ceremonies. more
The Women of Mad Men.
When season one of Mad Men, the critical darling of a cultural time capsule concluded last year, the melancholy, all-American suburban mother/Grace-Kelly-doppelganger Betty Draper was coming to grips with her husband Don’s infidelities as well as the loss of what she had hoped would be the resurrection of her big city modeling career from which she retired after getting married. more
thirtysomething Stalker.
A while ago I bemoaned in this very space how very much I missed thirtysomething, the mid-1980s drama that is tragically unavailable on DVD and hasn’t aired on TV in many years. The TV series started as I commenced my college days and I’d never had a chance to watch it through a mother’s eyes. more
Moms: Celebrated & Snubbed by the Emmy Awards.
For some, watching a Hollywood awards show is akin to watching the NCAA basketball tournament. There are odds involved and favorites for whom you’re pulling for a variety of reasons. The winners wind up basking in the media spotlight, at least for a day or two. more
The Lives of Army Wives.
My initial feeling when I sat down to watch the freshman season of Army Wives on DVD and the new episodes from its now-airing second season on Lifetime was one of guilt. I’ll admit that as much as I love news and politics, I don’t frequently think about the lives of the family members who sacrifice their husbands, wives, fathers, mothers and siblings to the armed services in this time of war in Iraq and Afghanistan. more
Scarlet Letter.
Joseph Burkett. Casey Aldridge. Gloucester High School boys. Arthur Dimmesdale. Do those names ring any bells? Think . . . where have you heard them before? Perhaps these names will help: Lara Logan, Jamie Lynn Spears, Gloucester High girls and Hester Prynne. more
Summer Schedules.
Working from home. In the summer. With three young, school-aged children in the house. Is making me crazy. Snacks, oh the requests for snacks. Non-stop, thanks to their school year schedule which had food going into their mouths every two hours or so . . . as if they’d perish without constant calorie intake (no wonder many American kids are becoming chubby). more
First Spouses: Rules of Engagement.
After wading through dozens of news stories and blog posts comparing and contrasting potential first ladies Michelle Obama and Cindy McCain, after watching countless commentators contemplate which woman will be a major boost (or major downer) to her husband’s campaign I decided I HAD to write about this topic. more
Dr. Scholl's & Sex Roles.
While watching CBS’ new salacious and intriguing summer soap, “Swingtown” – set in the summer of 1976 in a Chicago suburb -- it’s hard not to get caught up in nostalgia. At least it was hard for me to stop reminiscing about my own 70s childhood while watching the show, starring Grant Show (best known as Jake from “Melrose Place”) . . . more
