Sheryl Sandberg, author of Lean In, is creating waves in the discussion of women in the workplace. After her 2010 Ted Talk, she decided to write Lean In in order to keep the discussion going.

In various classes, I’ve spent a lot of time discussing Sheryl’s idea of “leaning in” and what it means for women in the workplace. This topic was a significant topic in my Industrial/Organizational Psyc (aka Psychology of the Workplace) class. Sheryl is also now a part of the “careers” section in Cosmopolitan magazine, helping Joanna Coles change the face of the magazine.

Recently, my cousin posted an article on Facebook (ironically) that bashes Sandberg and talks about why women should “Recline” instead. The article, written by Rosa Brooks, talks about her “epiphany” in realizing she hates Sheryl Sandberg. In the article she says, “This, of course, is why I hate her. Sheryl, have you ever stopped to consider that all this “learning in” is ruining life for the rest of us?”

Brooks then goes on to discuss how she personally experienced “leaning in” and how she became miserable because she had no time for anything else. She was tired and never saw her friends. The article ends with this quote:

“We need to fight for our right to lean out, and we need to do it together,     girls. If we’re going to fight the culture of workplace ubiquity, and the parallel and equally-pernicious culture of intensive parenting, we need to do it together — and we need to bring our husbands and boyfriends and male colleagues along, too. They need to lean out in solidarity, for their own sakes as well as ours.”

I found the article to be interesting because I never thought of the other side of “leaning in” or “reclining.” Since Sandberg is such as successful woman, I admired her will to want to change things for women in the workplace. However, Brooks makes a great point about how leaning in can cause us to overwork ourselves and not leave time for ourselves to do the things we enjoy. Additionally, as I start the real final lap (since it’s after spring break) thinking about how to balance “leaning in” with “reclining” has helped me figure out how I want to behave in the workplace as well as outside the workplace.