A Catholic writer and radio host argued this week that one of feminism’s greatest myths is that motherhood is incompatible with intellectual life.

This idea that children are a barrier to intellectual pursuits is a main tenet of second-wave feminism, which was ushered in largely by Betty Friedan in the 1960s, Ashley McGuire, co-host of Conversations with Consequences and senior fellow at the Catholic Association, wrote in a Jan. 6 article for the organization.

McGuire added that in a recent article, author Nadya Williams called Friedan a “depressed and frustrated stay-at-home wife and mother.” According to Williams, Friedan had depression and asked her therapist to help her write her landmark work, The Feminine Mystique, but he declined. 

Friedan wrote against the drudgery of caring for children and a “low anthropology of children,” Williams added. Friedan acted as if children are not worthy of the time and attention they seek from their mothers.

Williams wrote that mothers should view their children as fellow image-bearers and added that they are not an obstacle to a mother’s intellectual life — instead, they are companions on the path to intellectual and spiritual flourishing.

McGuire shared, “As a mom of five, now including a teen and tween, this reality is unfolding before me. My children pick up the newspapers, magazines, and books lying around the house and want to discuss them, often on a level that surprises me. The farther I probe the corners of their intellects, the more surprised I am by their elasticity.”

McGuire added that her children’s curiosity stimulates her mind and encourages her to grow in her own intellectual pursuits so that she can continue teaching them and cultivating their minds.

“A ‘low anthropology of children’ demeans and diminishes the role that mothers and fathers play in their work at home — and underestimates the potential of the child to boot,” McGuire wrote.

Meanwhile, McGuire added, the culture still devalues motherhood and marriage; a study from September 2025 indicated that young women who voted for Kamala Harris rank having children as very low in their definition of success. Young women who voted for Donald Trump ranked children, on a list of 13 items, as the sixth most important item in defining success, still ranking it in the bottom half of their priorities.

However, other studies show that despite popular cultural narratives, married mothers report themselves as happier than their single, childless counterparts.

McGuire concluded that in order to salvage women’s right to pursue happiness, they must learn that marriage and children are not an obstacle to a fulfilling life.