An author claiming women without children should be allowed to take time off for ‘me-ternity’ leave backed out of a TV appearance this week after facing a massive backlash over her original comments.

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Meghann Foyle claimed that expecting mothers had an unfair advantage in the workplace, and that women without kids should be allowed a break themselves to focus on their own life goals.

People are saying Meghann’s ideas pit mothers against childless women.

Here’s what she wrote for the NY Post:

I was 31 years old in 2009, and I loved my career. As an editor at a popular magazine, I got to work on big stories, attend cool events, and meet famous celebs all the time.

And yet, after 10 years of working in a job where I was always on deadline, I couldn’t help but feel envious when parents on staff left the office at 6 p.m. to tend to their children, while it was assumed co-workers without kids would stay behind to pick up the slack.

“You know, I need a maternity leave!” I told one of my pregnant friends. She laughed, and we spent the afternoon plotting my escape from my 10-hour days, fake baby bump and all.

Of course, that didn’t happen. But the more I thought about it, the more I came to believe in the value of a “meternity” leave — which is, to me, a sabbatical-like break that allows women and, to a lesser degree, men to shift their focus to the part of their lives that doesn’t revolve around their jobs. For women who follow a “traditional” path, this pause often naturally comes in your late 20s or early 30s, when a wedding, pregnancy and babies means that your personal life takes center stage. But for those who end up on the “other” path, that socially mandated time and space for self-reflection may never come.

It seemed that parenthood was the only path that provided a modicum of flexibility. There’s something about saying “I need to go pick up my child” as a reason to leave the office on time that has far more gravitas than, say, “My best friend just got ghosted by her OkCupid date and needs a margarita” — but both sides are valid.

And as I watched my friends take their real maternity leaves, I saw that spending three months detached from their desks made them much more sure of themselves. One friend made the decision to leave her corporate career to create her own business; another decided to switch industries. From the outside, it seemed like those few weeks of them shifting their focus to something other than their jobs gave them a whole new lens through which to see their lives.

While both men and women would benefit from a “meternity” leave after a decade or so in the workforce, the concept is one that would be especially advantageous for women. Burnout syndrome is well-documented in both sexes, but recent research suggests that women may experience it at greater rates; researchers postulate that it’s because women (moms and non-moms alike) feel overloaded by the roles they have to take on at work and at home.

Bottom line: Women are bad at putting ourselves first. But when you have a child, you learn how to self-advocate to put the needs of your family first. A well-crafted “meternity” can give you the same skills — and taking one shouldn’t disqualify you from taking maternity leave later.

I can sort of see her point, but if everyone out there (men and women) suddenly started demanding 3 months off for some ‘me time’ because it’s unfair that working mothers get it then the world might actually stop spinning. You know where you can get 2/3 months off all in one go? At school. As a student or a teacher.

Besides, calling parenthood “flexible” is absolutely bat shit insane. Pretty sure having kids makes life the opposite of flexible. New mums don’t take maternity leave so they can go party in Ibiza do they? Use your brain for me one time Meghann.

If you ever do decide to get pregnant though, here’s how NOT to announce it on Facebook.