Yogurt: A Barrier to Women's Success - Raritan Valley Community ...

24would be here for the kids after school” (Modern Family). She findsdifficulties balancing her priorities both at home and at work, and herresponsibilities as a mother are holding her back from reaching her goal tobecome city councilman. Her husband, Phil, volunteers to watch the childrenafter school. Claire hopes that having fewer responsibilities in the householdwill allow her to focus more on her campaign. Her plan backfires, however,when she comes home to find her son with a black eye and her daughterpassed out on the couch. This scene makes it apparent that mothers areimportant in a household. It also shows the stereotype that fathers areincompetent when they try to perform the roles of mothers. This commonstereotype depicts that women should stay at home with their kids ratherthan work five days a week. Common household responsibilities make itdifficult for women to reach high points in their careers.Family responsibilities are also highlighted in “Women and theLabyrinth of Leadership”. According to Eagly and Carli, “For many women,the most fateful turns in the labyrinth are the ones taken under pressure offamily responsibilities…As a result, they have fewer years of job experienceand fewer hours of employment per year, which slows their career progressand reduces their earnings” (158). Both authors support this argument bystating that family responsibilities among women cause a slow in their careerprogress. In Modern Family, Claire can relate to this concept because shestruggles to maintain a job while she performs her duties as a mother.Many people assume that women cannot perform as well as men in aparticular career field. In Modern Family, Claire encounters people who donot think that she will succeed. When Claire announces that she is runningfor city councilman, many people have mixed responses. Claire’s familysupports her decision, but many individuals believe that she is wasting hertime and that she does not have a chance of winning the campaign. Dwayne,the current city councilman, tells Claire, “Don’t quit your lack of a day job.”