Why We Need To End The 'Mommy Wars'

A photo series from the group Connecticut Working Moms calls for women to stop judging one another and embrace the fact that making different life choices is okay. In other words: stop the "mommy wars." While that's a term that typically gets used in reference to working versus stay-at-home moms, mommy wars can go way beyond work. From diaper decisions to co-sleeping to breast feeding, food choices to family size, motherhood is fraught with opportunities for comparison and judgement.

Of course, there are no objectively right way to do these things. And one's personal stance needn't necessarily be in opposition to any other stance. Too often, women view other women making choices opposite their own as some sort of inherent critique. And even when women don't do it themselves, the media loves to portray it this way.

The CWM photo series illustrates how women and mothers can (and should!) make different choices and still peacefully co-exist together. It's part of the group's larger Campaign for Judgement Free Motherhood.

"We held a photo shoot in which we encouraged moms to be united, not divided by the media created 'mommy wars,'" wrote CTWM founder Michelle Noehren in a blog post about the campaign. "Each mom makes her own decisions on how to raise her children and what to do with her body, and those decisions are hers alone. ... These are all very personal matters and we can never truly know the reasons why a mom makes a choice differently than we would."

You can see the full photo series at CTWorkingMoms.com.