What Do Women Really Want? Thoughts on Motherhood and Career, by Marie Meaney

By Marie Meaney, D.Phil., Catholic World Report, May 30, 2024

Marie Meaney, D.Phil., is the author of When Expecting Doesn’t Happen: Turning Infertility into a Journey of Hope (Emmaus Road, 2022). She is a specialist on the French philosopher and mystic Simone Weil, on whom she has written two books. She holds graduate degrees in modern languages and philosophy from Oxford University and the International Academy of Philosophy (IAP) in Liechtenstein. …

Nothing but God can truly satisfy the restless human heart. But there’s a hierarchy to things, to what is more important and what is less so.

Much ink has been spilled on Harrison Butker’s recent commencement speech at Benedictine College. Given the indignant articles and commentary in so many places, one would have thought that Butker wanted women to remain barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen without ever venturing into the professional world. But anyone who gives his speech a fair reading will realize he never said this; he merely made clear that for women and men, family should come before one’s career. This is a bold thing to say in an age of workaholism, where people are fed the lie that the meaning, happiness, and purpose of their life lies in their success at work. Other than the fact that workaholism is wrong, it leaves many people in the dust who don’t have fulfilling jobs.

There have also been critiques of the speech from orthodox, non-trad Catholic perspectives, pointing out certain issues with Butker’s speech. Emily Stimpson Chapman has done an excellent job underlining these (see here, here, and here), so I will not repeat what she said, leaving it to the reader to decide whether she is right or wrong. Instead, I want to reflect upon the difficult balancing act between career and family for women. …

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