Women want it all? Its' time to fight for it

Former Obama administration official Anne-Marie Slaughter talks to TODAY's Natalie Morales about her controversial article in The Atlantic, which debates whether women can juggle high-powered careers and be good mothers at the same time.

By Eve Tahmincioglu

Women can have it all if they fight for what they need.

That was the message that came from a powerful woman who sparked a national debate last week about women and their success in the workplace and as mothers.

Anne-Marie Slaughter, a former U.S. State Department official and now a Princeton professor, spoke about her The Atlantic article, ?Why Women Still Can?t Have It All?, Monday on TODAY, and wanted to make it clear that her piece was not negative but more of a call to action to women struggling with balancing work and life.

?Women have come leaps and bounds,? she said about the advancements women have made in the workplace, ?but we need another round of change.?

Working mothers, she continued, make it to a point in their career where they?re beginning to climb the ladder of succes, but then they end up feeling ?unbelievably torn? when family and work responsibilities clash.

Indeed, many women are questioning whether they can really have it all. An informal poll taken last week in an article about Slaughter?s story and the controversy that ensured, asked ?Do you think women can have it all?? found only 11 percent of the nearly 4,000 respondents felt it was possible, compared to 48 percent that offered a resounding ?no? to the question.

But in a sign of hope, 41 percent voted: ?Maybe, when the workplace changes.?

And it?s change Slaughter wants to see.

?We need to be honest about how hard it is,? she said about the first step women need to take. And secondly, she stressed, ?you have to ask for what you need. If you need to work from home, ask for it.?

In the end, she added, it?s all about a serious ?desire for change.?

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