Friday, April 13, 2012

Spotlight on Mrs. Romney

From The Wall Street Journal:
Mrs. Romney used TV and Twitter to answer a Democratic lobbyist who dismissed Mrs. Romney's qualifications to address women's economic issues, characterizing her as a wealthy, stay-at-home mother who "never worked a day in her life." Further, added the lobbyist, Hilary Rosen, in a Wednesday night TV interview, Mrs. Romney's husband "does not view women as equals."

Mrs. Romney opened a Twitter account late Wednesday to fire back. "I made a choice to stay home and raise five boys. Believe me, it was hard work," she wrote, quickly drawing 10,000 followers, many furious at Ms. Rosen's remarks.

Democrats ran for cover. First lady Michelle Obama tweeted: "Every mother works hard, and every woman deserves to be respected." Top political adviser David Axelrod called Ms. Rosen's remarks "inappropriate and offensive." Ms. Rosen, after first seeking to explain, later apologized Thursday.

By the end of the day even the president weighed in: "There's no tougher job than being a mom," Mr. Obama said in a TV interview. "I haven't met Mrs. Romney, but she seems like a very nice woman who is supportive of her family and supportive of her husband." (Read entire post.)
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6 comments:

GenerationZ said...

The spotlight should be on the fact that the contraception mandate is not about women. It's about the freedom of the Church.

elena maria vidal said...

This is a different topic entirely.

julygirl said...

I didn't know she was running for office. Looks like a candidate's spouse has to lay their life on the line too.

elena maria vidal said...

Really. It is the endless, tired feminist platform that rearing children and running a household is not work.

The North Coast said...

What women who are critical of Mrs. Romney are saying is, that staying at home and "working" at raising 5 kids when you are worth $280 M and employ 5 maids and nannies, is not exactly the same as working at some $25K a year job so you and your husband can put food on the table, and then coming home to do a 2nd part time job.

Perhaps the working class people who have to struggle to raise 4 or 5 kids when both parents must work just to stay one notch above poverty can be excused for being disdainful of a woman who "works" at raising 5 kids in conditions of extraordinary wealth and luxury, with a lot of help, when most women have their hands full just fitting in housework, grocery shopping, wash, and being with their children into a job needed to keep the family afloat.

Sorry, but the mega-rich Romneys display the same "let them eat cake" attitudes that poor Marie Antoinette was wrongly accused of. I don't believe that Antoinette and King Louis XVI ever in their lives displayed the insensitivity and disregard for their poor that the crass Romneys show towars the half of the American population that now makes less than $25K a year.

elena maria vidal said...

NC, as a working mother myself I do see your point. I have lived with an irregular income for many many years now and I know what it is to slip well below the poverty line. Friends and acquaintances who are better off just do not understand what it is to have to figure out how to put gas in the car, etc. There are some life experiences that a lady like Mrs. Romney might never fully comprehend simply because she has never lived them, and the same can be said for most of middle America. I think, however, that what offended people was the way it was expressed, with the suggestion that Mrs. Romney "has never worked a day in her life." Now I know from my study of royalty that no matter how many servants she might have, a mother is still a mother and still has worries and things that only she can see to. I have also worked in the homes of very wealthy people and I can tell you that no matter how much help a mother might have, she is still the one who has to worry and make certain things get done and that the children are properly cared for. No servant can take the pace of a mother. As for women like myself who are forced by circumstances to work outside the home, we can't do it without help. We could not do it without babysitters, grandparents, teachers, etc.

As for wealthy women, my grandmother was one and she understood the plight of the poor because of her charity work and fundraising. I believe Mrs. Romney has done a lot of volunteer work in her time. I just don't think women should judge and denigrate each other and think that money solves all problems because often it does not. Every walk of life has it's challenges and sacrifices.