In July, a group of women in Portland, Oregon, mobilized to shield protesters from federal officers who were reported to be covertly arresting individuals without cause. By creating a “Wall of Moms,” they showed the power that mothers can bring to social movements by harnessing their presumed roles as caretakers and protectors.
While these roles can pigeonhole women and widen existing gender disparities, they increasingly equip moms with a powerful platform to advocate for change on behalf of those in their direct care and society at large.
Moms: It’s time we fully utilize this platform. Like the Wall of Moms, those who are likeminded must raise their voices to assert, “Moms demand masks!” and push for the widespread adoption of science-based measures to stop the spread of COVID-19.
As a mom to three grown children, I’m well acquainted with the challenges of motherhood. I raised my kids while experiencing divorce, embarking on a significant career change, and establishing my unique mental health law practice. It was hard in the absence of a pandemic; COVID-19 has hyper-exacerbated all the existing and pervasive inequities.
We can come together to demand better as we have successfully come together before.
Moms are suffering greater financial losses as a result of the economic pain wrought by the crisis. As women, they are more likely to work in the hardest-hit sectors, including hospitality, leisure, healthcare, and retail. They have experienced pay cuts, furloughs, and layoffs in disproportionate numbers.
Those who remain employed still have less earning power than men. This compels many moms to shield working male partners from distractions at home. They thus take on an even larger portion of household responsibilities, often to the detriment of their career trajectories and mental health.
Working moms with young kids have been forced to make particularly gut-wrenching choices, trying to stay employed while caring for and home-schooling children, many of whom will continue learning remotely this fall. Single moms have far fewer options, especially those who are essential workers.
Then there are the moms who have had to endure long-term separation from their adult children. My own kids all currently live abroad. Not only have I been unable to visit any of them as planned, I’ll be missing my own daughter’s wedding on August 14.
Count it among the countless losses endured by so many mothers: having to decline the embrace of grandchildren; consoling kids anguished that their schools won’t reopen; saying goodbye to dying loved ones over the phone or not at all.
The mothers of this country can channel this collective grief to help put an end to the unspeakable horrors that have defined much of the response to COVID-19. We can come together to demand better, as we have successfully come together before.
Consider one of the best examples of mom activism: MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving). Founded in 1980 by a New Jersey mom who lost her teenage daughter to a drunk driver, MADD has grown to become a powerful force in North America. Its activism has reduced drunk-driving deaths by 50%, saving more than 370,000 lives.
Much of this success can be attributed to our society’s desire to see mothers as our most devoted caretakers. We accept that moms are hard-wired to pursue change that better protects innocents from dangers like drunk driving, a perception that smooths the way for this very change.
Mothers in this country are thus uniquely equipped to convince lawmakers and citizens that measures like mask wearing are essential. Harnessing the power of others’ perceptions can help us best reach a wider group of people about the necessity of masks and the blatant selfishness of anti-maskers, who strikingly have been called the drunk drivers of the COVID-19 age.
I believe the experience of motherhood endows moms with more strength, tenacity, and resilience than society recognizes. These attributes make us an enormously powerful force for change. Building on the successes of past movements – from the Wall of Moms to MADD – we can again come together to create the kind of world we want for our children and ourselves. As a start, we must ensure it is COVID-19-free.
Say it with me, “Moms demand masks!”
