Opinion: This Australian author is wrong about Jacinda Ardern

We have no information regarding workplace systems that may have been adapted to support Ardern in the pursuit of his work, nor details of how Neve's care will be arranged. Attacking Ardern to "unload" and "expel" her daughter perpetuates the demonization of women for choosing what is best for them and their families.

For my part, I have a much more optimistic view of the Prime Minister's parenting arrangements. Neve will have a positive male model that shows how the care work of others can be successfully accomplished by men. She will have a mother who comes home satisfied and fulfilled by her job, and is a better parent for it. She will be part of a nation that embraces family life work arrangements covering a full range of options: no or /.

I would like to challenge Natalie Ritchie to sit down with her discomfort on Ardern not being the main parent. Consider where this discomfort comes from – and why it feels it is necessary to criticize with such hardness.

Why are we afraid of women who choose work first? Why, even as we shout out loud for family friendly and flexible workplaces, do many of us have a hard time giving up on the idea of ​​the mother as the only one able to? to be a parent?

We all have the right to decide what works for our families and ours alone. If the choices you make lead to your discomfort, take the time to ask yourself why. It's good to be uncomfortable. It's okay to disagree with the choices of others (including those of our leaders). It is not OK to project what we think to be an acceptable parent on someone else.

Regardless of what Ardern does, she is going to be wrong – just like all of us. It makes decisions that reflect the society in which we live, and even if we all want it to be better or different, it's only a step down the road.

Change does not come quickly, it happens slowly. Having a person so prominent in a journey that many of us identify is an important part of progress towards equality; Tash Barneveld owns a yarn store and co-organizes WWGSD while keeping his two-year-old son and two daughters-in-law.