Success is hard in general for most women. We now have such busy lives, and we’re told we can do everything - you know, we can have the relationship and the marriage and the kids and the career.

Deeley frames “success” for women as structurally and emotionally demanding rather than simply a matter of ambition. The quote points to the modern “have it all” script—romance, marriage, children, and a thriving career—presented as simultaneously attainable and expected. By emphasizing busyness and the pressure of being told one can do everything, she highlights how cultural narratives can become burdensome ideals, setting women up for guilt or a sense of failure when trade-offs are inevitable. The remark implicitly critiques the mismatch between expanded opportunities and the persistent realities of time, caregiving labor, and social expectations.