Back in July, Marissa Mayer took the reigns of Yahoo. In the process, she became the youngest CEO of a fortune 500 company. But while her youth made history, it was the fact that she was six months pregnant when she took the job that had the blogosphere passing judgment.
But if they were passing judgment then, they’re throwing it overhand now as Mayer returns to work, just two weeks after giving birth. Is this conversation an important one for women everywhere? Or is it just none of our business?
Denise Albert has some idea of the criticism that Mayer is facing. A journalist, television producer, and mom, she took no maternity leave at all when she had her younger son.
“The stakes are really high, and I think that’s probably one of the reasons why she’s going back to work so quickly,” Albert said. “But it’s also who she is.”
Albert thinks that how much maternity leave a woman takes should really be an individual decision. She congratulates Marissa Mayer for accepting such a demanding job while six months pregnant, and commends Yahoo! for offering it to her under those circumstances.
While some have expressed concerns that Marissa Mayer’s example could be misused to rob women of maternity leave when they do need it, Denise Albert thinks this can only be a good thing for women.
“My boys look at me as a hard-working businesswoman,” Albert says. And perhaps this is as important for feminism as maternity leave is.
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