Helaine’s Blog

I Heart Mary Ann Mason

July 6th, 2008

I must confess I tossed aside the galley of Mothers on the Fast Track by Mary Ann Mason and her daughter Eve Mason Ekman a year ago, barely bothering to read more than the ill chosen title.  I was absolutely sure it was yet another book about how those darn moms didn’t know how to negotiate with their employers and if they just presented their case in a recommended way for telecommuting, flextime and whatever else they needed, those corporations would see the light.

Well, my bad.

The terrific book is all about how professional women find themselves, often through no fault of their own, falling off the fast track at work after becoming parents. For this reader, the chapter that most resonated was “The Second Tier” about how organizations ranging from HMO’s to academic powerhouses have taken advantage of the fact that many of these women are so desperate to keep some link to the work world that they will work for pennies on the dollar. 

Thank you, thank you, Mary Ann Mason for validating me. As my friends know, I’ve been ranting for years about how the ever growing number of absolutely first rate semi-employed female reporters and writers has become entwined into the economic structure of journalism itself.