...would this person be in the position described had they been named, say, Edward or Julio?

What the author is describing is the problem of modern motherhood. Note that the nanny returned home to report that all the other mothers looked at her children with pity. Any dads in the group? No? Why not?

I'll tell you why. They were in the exciting world of adults, that's why.

Now, I have four children, all of whom I love, and with whom I spent a great deal of time (voluntarily) when they were little. I work with children 5 days a week -- 6 days, last week. (It was Beatrix Potter's birthday on Friday.) I prefer the company of children to many of the adults I know because I like to play and I like new ways of looking at things. But that's me.

If I, with my professional education, intellectual interests and other talents, were more interested in adult company, it would be painful to be confined to the Mommy ghetto by society's disapproval of my selfishness. She has said out loud what many other women experience; it's no lie that women suffer from depression in far greater numbers than men.

Women are approximately two times more likely than men to suffer from major depression and dysthymia (Research Agenda for Psychosocial and Behavioral Factors in Women's Health, 1996). Depression has been called the most significant mental health risk for women, especially younger women of childbearing and childrearing age (Glied & Kofman, 1995). . . .

Married women have higher rates of depression than unmarried women, but the reverse is true for men. Marriage seems to confer a greater protective advantage on men than on women. In unhappy marriages, women are three times as likely as men to be depressed. Women's risk of depressive symptoms and demoralization is higher among mothers of young children and increases with the number of children in the house (McGrath et al., 1990).