Ivanka Trump Called Motherhood a Woman's "Most Important Job" and That's a Problem

"The most important job any woman can have is being a mother."

That's the quote Ivanka Trump gives in a new campaign video about her father's plan for paid maternity leave, and it caught me completely off guard.

People say this kind of thing all the time — that their "most rewarding role" in life is being a parent, and that there's "no greater gift/miracle/joy/responsibility" than having children — and that's fine. It had never phased me. No one can dispute that raising kids, particularly good kids, is a vitally important job. And for many people out there with children, it might very well be their most important job . . . even if they have another one.

I'm one of those people (uh, sorry, POPSUGAR!). With one toddler and a baby on the way, I do believe that for me — a career-minded woman with a full-time job — my most crucial role at this stage of my life is motherhood.

But to say that all women must share that sentiment is close-minded and insulting. Women who don't want — or can't have — children certainly have important work still to do. Teachers and cancer specialists and brain surgeons and maternity nurses and engineers — whether they're parents or not — may consider their chosen professions to be their most important job. And for those of us in need of their expertise, we'd be wise to let them focus on it.

Some might see this as parsing Ivanka's words, that she was simply repeating a colloquialism that was never meant to be taken so literally.

In any other venue, for any other purpose, sure. But when it comes to highly orchestrated presidential campaign ads, every word matters. Particularly when those words reinforce the age-old gender stereotypes that continue to set women back in the workforce and place the burden of parenting firmly on their shoulders alone.

In fact, seeing as Donald Trump's plan does not include paternity leave for new dads, it's rather telling that Ivanka never thought to add that "the most important job any man can have is being a father."