Rabenmutter

I meant to post on this yesterday, thanks to Broadsheet for the reminder.
Apparently Germany is uber-resistant (sorry, couldn’t help myself) to the idea of working mothers. They even have a name for those so selfish as to have a career: Rabenmutter. I know it’s supposed to be an insult, but damn does that sound bad-ass.
From The New York Times:

It means raven mother, and refers to women who leave their children in an empty nest while they fly away to pursue a career. The phrase, which sounds like something out of the Brothers Grimm, has been used by Germans for centuries as a synonym for bad parent. Today, it is at the center of a new debate on the future of the German working woman, prompted by the first woman to lead the country, Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The piece focuses on Merkel’s newly-appointed minister for family affairs, Ursula von der Leyen. Von der Leyen, a doctor and mother of seven, is using her position to work on policies that encourage working women to have children and to challenge anti-working mom beliefs.
Good shit.

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