Nobody wants to mother!
On Thursday, Kourtney Kardashian took to her Instagram Story to share a cryptic message about parenting and female ambition – which fans saw as a jab at her sister.
The graphic Kourtney reshared was posted by a group called Mother Untitled, which, per its website, aims to “re-brand the choice to put motherhood … first” as one that’s “empowered and modern.”
The post listed various famous women who have stepped back from high-powered careers to focus on their children.
“We are seeing female icons of ambition across industries prioritizing what matters now…” the post argued, citing as examples, former Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg’s decision to “focus on parenting…” and former prime minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern stating that she “no longer had that bit extra in the tank” for politics.
The post concluded with a call to “normalize” the idea that shifting one’s priorities “from career to family … is not antithetical to ambition.”
Kourtney – who shares three children of her own with ex-boyfriend Scott Disick, and who, in 2020, announced that she would step away from Keeping Up With the Kardashians to be a “full-time mom” – has long advocated for a healthy balance between work and family life.
But fans perceived a shady side to The Kardashians star’s post, speculating that the message might even have been aimed at her own younger sister, Kim “nobody wants to work” Kardashian.
The Kardashians fans applaud Kourtney for setting ‘boundaries’
On a Reddit forum for Kardashian-Jenner “cynics,” fans weighed in on Kourtney’s Story and her possible meaning.
Some noted that back in 2018, Keeping Up With the Kardashians captured an explosive fight between the sisters in which Kourtney complained that work-related obligations like the family’s annual holiday photo shoot were cutting into her time with her kids.
Kim responded by slamming her sister as “lazy” and “the most entitled f***ing person in the family.”
But Kourtney’s “boundaries,” one commenter wrote, had always been “valid.”
The person said they found it “wild” that Kourtney had been portrayed on KUWTK as “difficult or lazy when she literally just wanted to focus on being a mom.”
“Love to see it,” another wrote of the post, adding that they were glad to see that Kourtney “doesn’t seem as afraid to just be open about her views.”
Fans weigh in on Kourtney’s anti-working take
But other fans took issue with the tone of Kourtney’s post, or its seeming implication that there was only one right way to do things.
One person noted that they “lowkey hate this type of take,” because it puts the burden of a healthy work-life balance entirely on women.
“I never see men wanting to do the same thing,” the commenter wrote.
Besides, they added, not all ambitious women find fulfillment or purpose through the raising of kids. Some women, they noted, might “prefer their jobs” as “places of self-realization.”
Still, others took issue with the wordy preachiness of the post that Kourtney shared.
As one commenter put it, “There’s no way she knows who Jacinda is.”
The Kardashians Seasons 1 and 2 are streaming on Hulu.