Additionally, most of the jobs that currently include paid maternity leave are generally jobs that are negotiated. You should always negotiate a job offer!

This is all perfect world talk. That is the ideal, the exception. Until there is any nation-wide conversation about paid maternity leave, this is all just speculation anyways.

same way anyone else would. "I see maternity leave is a paid portion of the compensation plan offered to employees. Would this be transferable for paternity leave? No? OK then I would like to have that removed from the comp package and an additional ______ (5%, week of vacation per year, whatever) added.

you can give benefits to all employees that only some employees opt to use. 401(k) matching, sick days, flexible schedule, maternity leave. If someone opts not to use the maternity leave benefit (which I want to again point out is not a given in America. Very few companies offer paid maternity leave. Unpaid leave is…

You "have" to? According to whom? It's not as if the average woman has a baby every year. 2, 3 babies over the course of 15 years maybe. But as long as you feel prosecuted for not having a child this line of reasoning will never even begin to make sense to you.

I saw it in gone girl and I was pretty non-plussed. But it was a brief flash of dong, not a full on moment of glory.

I can see the frustration that she experienced. She was gone for a month for recovery from a hysterectomy and didn't receive any paid leave. Her co-worker was gone for a month for maternity leave and was paid in full. In fairness I'm assuming that shoegal doesn't have all the details, and she and I had quite a bit of…

next time I'll just be one of the many praising the speech without wondering what the problem was. One reason people stay ignorant is because they don't have anyone they can ask questions to.

not why and not what I said. If you're looking for an argument you won't find it here. Carry on.

that's why I'm-OMG-looking for clarification. Thank you for your incredible insight. I'd be lost without you.

that's not really fair. I never said anyone needs to stfu or that anyone's battle has been won. I was looking for some clarification on what she said.

AH! I get it now! Sorry to have been so dense before, your explanation makes perfect sense, thanks for taking the time to type it all out!!

I'm still confused. She didn't say white women. Or any other qualifier besides women. Period.

That's pretty interesting, and frustrating I'll certainly give you that. I might be cautious about being so certain about the surroundings of her payment and leave, unless you are actually 100% certain-like, is that a company-wide policy? It's a pretty weird sounding policy, and seems ripe for a lawsuit or something.…

So wait, because I'm not gay I can't stand up for gay rights? I know I'm not her and don't have a stage nearly as large as the Oscars, but why should we be upset about anyone speaking up for equal pay for women?

Do you know all of the details of your coworker's leave? She was paid out specifically for maternity leave? Or she used vacation leave for her time away?

How were you discriminated against? I'm not trying to argue with you, I am genuinely curious.

Is it wrong that I fully expect my best friend who happens to be gay to be as supportive of and vocal about my rights as a female as I have been for his rights as a gay person? He and I have discussed it and he even agrees-how could he NOT stand with me when I continue to stand with him?

Oh my goodness. Twins! Congratulations and best of luck!! I never really "got" the maternity leave thing until I had a baby. Like...it just does a full on number to you! I spent many hours reading about what other nations do for their leave, and it's pretty disgusting. It also speaks volumes about how we treat our…

Sorry I was mostly being a little sassy with Madeleine saying "please hold your horses"