I was startled by what I read in Daphne Caruana Galizia’s criticism (TMIS, 17 December) of one graduate who displayed a T Shirt stating “I’m a Wife, I’m a Mother, I’m a Graduate” while celebrating her academic success by graduating from the University of Malta. This graduate had every reason to celebrate and be proud that she had succeeded, regardless of being a wife and mother. I have no idea who this woman is, I do not know how many children she has and I have no idea in what course she graduated, but when I saw the photo in the newspaper, my first reaction was good for her, thumbs up and that she had earned the right to celebrate in any manner she may want to.
From what I have experienced and what I witness from my own wife, being a mother, especially of very young children, is in itself a full-time job and I presume that the woman in question took a full-time course; therefore to juggle the two is an achievement in itself. I think the message should be that if she did it, many others could do it. It is much better than those who use motherhood to apply unjustifiably for more social security. To be fair, on the other hand, this woman is not the only mother who has attended a course at Univer-sity. However, they should be admired and not trashed.
I do not agree with the recent Curia’s pronouncements on career mums, suggesting that they are doing something wrong and should necessarily choose between raising the children or pursuing a career. On the contrary, I agree with today’s government position that we should encourage women to continue with their career and that our economy needs their contribution. However, let us not kid ourselves – women have a tougher time. Our social conditioning has lumbered women with unequal responsibilities, and therefore as a community we should at least give them our moral support.
The fact that this woman decided to write this message on her T shirt does not mean to my mind that we are regressive in our mentality. Ms Caruana Galizia, with some authority, stated that this does not take place in “Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Britain or North America”. However, how many of these countries has she recently visited during graduation celebrations? There are those who attribute something or other as only happening in Malta, but who have absolutely no experience of what actually happens elsewhere. Undoubtedly, mothers do graduate from foreign universities, and undoubtedly they face the same challenges as their Maltese counterparts. Whether they write any message on their T Shirt is immaterial.
Our message, on the
other hand, should be congratulations to her and to her family, who must have contributed to her success.
Dr Malcolm Mifsud
Pietà