People seem to really love Workin? Moms. The 22-minute sitcom, helmed by comedian Catherine Reitman, premiered on CBC in 2017 and has been recommended to me, a working mom of three kids, almost weekly ever since. Now that the series is on Netflix in both Canada and the US, it?s become a binge-worthy show that everyone?s talking about on both sides of the border. I keep hearing that it breaks barriers for women in comedy and really speaks to the modern mom.
But I?ve gotta be honest: now that I?ve watched it, I?m surprised that so many of my smart and strong mom friends love it, and that they actually buy into the show?s low-key aspirational messaging and gross-out humour.
Reitman plays Kate, a mom and ad executive who?s unable to find the elusive work-life balance so many of us struggle to achieve. But in Kate?s case, she?s a married, wealthy white woman who can afford a nanny. Her privilege oozes from the screen, even throughout the salacious (and, let?s be honest, trite) affair she learns about between her husband, Nathan, and said nanny. In fact, nearly every character on the show either employs a nanny or is a stay-at-home mom?something many Canadian parents simply can?t afford to do. If this show is about real-world parenting problems, where are the long, snaking lines of parents standing outside daycares overnight, trying to get their kids a coveted, overpriced spot" Where are the women forced to put their careers on hold for several years because daycare costs o...