But they also have an important message:

The whole Girl Boss era made women feel like anything less than climbing the corporate ladder was a failure—a point for the patriarchy. These women are rejecting that premise and redefining ambition on their own terms. /end
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/10/s...

It's a tricky story to tell. Tradwives have made motherhood a meme. Too many women stop working because childcare’s too costly. And too many politicians are telling women to have more babies, while slashing their safety net. The women I spoke to know it was a privilege to make this choice. 5/x

It’s a story about the growing number of women — women of the Lean In era — who have reached the heights of career success and decided, for now, to pursue other goals, be it motherhood, starting a business, or something else entirely. Author Neha Ruch calls this “the power pause.” 4/x

I didn’t end up leaving my job. But in '22, my newsroom shut down. Since then, I’ve been a full-time freelancer (by choice!). I work as much as ever, but it’s on my own terms.

Anyway, I word vomited this to a wonderful editor at the Times, who thought there was a story in it and there was! 3/x

So many women were being forced out of the workforce at that time due to layoffs and lack of childcare. I knew that if I stepped back from work, I'd be counted in that group. But that didn’t feel like it would accurately describe my situation. I wondered ever how many other women felt that way. 2/x

I take it back. This part is reeeeeally clear.

that was a terrible (!) decision on their part. i'm so sorry to hear it, adam. i loved the work you were doing there — and all the work you do!