So, apparently, paid maternity leave is considered "women's liberation" by Norwegian feminists.
Having children is optional. Maternity leave is a perk, not an essential right. There was never a time in history when women could have children without giving things up. If maternity leave liberates women, so does getting rich. Yes, wealth technically offers liberty, but that's not what we usually mean when we talk about liberty. In other words, liberty is a negative right and maternity leave isn't.
2/ This isn't to say that I'm against maternity leave. I just object to calling it liberation, because liberty that comes at someone else's expense (employers and taxpayers in this case) isn't liberty, it's privilege. Maternity leave is a privilege that women in this country have. Let's see feminists try to sell their ideology while having to use the word "privilege" in all the appropriate places.
@thor not sure about Norway, but in most countries this isn't a women's only privilege, i.e. paternity leave is a thing. This doesn't even have anything to do with feminism.
@newt I think many feminists would object rather loudly to your claim that parental leave is unrelated to feminism, since it has its origins in feminists fighting for the right to maternity leave, so women could keep their jobs while having babies. Paternity leave was a later concession made for the sake of balance, and it isn't implemented in as many jurisdictions. Paternity leave only exists because maternity leave exists because feminism exists.
@newt I mean, I'm hearing Norwegian women describe maternity leave as a matter of women's liberation, and I believe that's a common attitude. Paternity leave is an addition to that, and many men in Norway don't make use of it, so they're changing the rules in order to force the men to take out paternity leave now, because they're not doing it voluntarily.