What ever happened to Hilary Rosen?
You remember Rosen. The Democratic strategist who said Ann Romney never “worked a day in her life.”
Yep. But that was way back last April. Can’t we just let bygones be bygones? So much has happened since then. Barack Obama respects all women. The Democratic party is THE party for all women. Really? Tell that to Lena Dunham.
If you would have voters believe Rosen misspoke or we misunderstood her, then you must concede so did Todd Akin misspeak. So did we misunderstand Richard Mourdock. Dunham, however, did not misspeak, nor did we misunderstand her.
Dunham was very clear and intentional when she starred in a full-fledged ad denigrating young women. An ad bought and paid for by the Obama campaign. The best thing to come out of Dunham’s ad comparing voting for the first time to losing her virginity was Steven Crowder’s parody of it (the parody by Token Libertarian Girl is pretty good, too).
What were Democrats thinking?
“First we take out the stodgy, old stay-at-home moms who don’t ‘work’ and are probably illiterate anyway. Then we go in for the kill by sexualizing the bootie-licious twenty-somethings. And those bra-burning feminists? We’ll lure them to vote with their lady parts!”
That’s a winning strategy? That’s a party who speaks for women? That’s a president who cares about the dignity of all people? The Democratic party can no more profess to be the party of all women than the Republican party can. Both camps have logged successes and failures in dealing with women this election. Maybe because women aren’t just one, big, homogenous voting block.
Abortion is an important issue. I repeat: abortion is an important issue, maybe the most important social issue of our lifetimes. But it’s not the only issue, and it’s not exclusively a women’s issue. Some of us are pro-life, some of us are pro-choice, and a bunch are somewhere in between. Of course we care about Our Bodies Ourselves as women. We also care about our spouses, our daughters and sons, our work in and outside of our homes, our churches, our economy, our foreign policy, and an array of other issues as well.
Ann raised-five-sons-but-never-worked Romney, image from www.MittRomney.com
All women work hard.
We work hard at working things out. We listen. We think. We weigh the options. We prioritize. We discuss. We blog. We visit neutral sites like I Side With to compare the candidates. What’s the most urgent thing that needs to be addressed first? Who is most likely to address that issue best?
For me and millions of American women and men, the most urgent issue for our country at this time is our struggling economy. When people can’t work, they can’t eat. Economic unrest jeopardizes our freedoms and dreams. The way I see it, Obama has had four years to begin to turn the economy around, and he’s failed. It’s time to give someone else a shot. Mitt Romney was successful in the private sector. He worked with a Democratic congress as Governor of Massachusetts to close a $3 billion budget deficit…
Ah, but there I go again. Silly me. Talking about an issue SAHMs are unqualified to discuss. Right, Rosen? Maybe I should just pick up my lady parts and go vote.
That’s exactly what I plan to do Tuesday, November 6th. It won’t be my first time or, God willing, my last.
I’m in love with this site! Just sayin’…. Wish I’d have found you ladies before the election!
Aimee,
First while I don’t agree with Hilary Rosen’s denigration of SAHMs, her “misspeaking” nor the misspeaking of Lena Dunham can not be placed in the same category as elected officials or candidates. Rosen is a pundit and Dunham an actress. They can not directly shape the laws that affect women and men. I don’t agree with their tactics, but I also don’t care frankly. I do care about politicians who make outrageous statements.
As a stay-at-home mom, I couldn’t agree more with you on the fact that we all work hard. Whether we are working in the home without pay or outside of the home with it, our roles as mothers, community participants, daughters, wives, sisters, friends are filled with joy and struggle – things we can ALL relate to. Dividing us into waring camps is divisive and damaging.
However, we disagree on who will help the economy most. A president who understands that staying-at-home is a luxury for some and for others the only option because they can’t afford child care is the kind of president I want in office. Mitt’s ongoing subtext about his belief that mothers must rush home to care for their kids but that fathers don’t have the same responsibility and challenges speaks to an outmoded understanding of family, of the economic burdens of two earner households, and of the desire for men to be deeply engaged in parenting. I vote for a president who is living in the present not fantasizing about a past that doesn’t exist anymore, a president who understand that the economy is a women’s issue.
Lisen
Lisen, there are many couples (my husband and I included) who choose to have one parent stay at home to care for their children. It’s not because we can’t find childcare. It’s not a luxury; it’s a financial hardship or at least not the most financially rewarding option. It’s not an “outmoded understanding of family.” We choose to do this because they believe this is the best option for our families and our children. Our choice needs to be respected and supported in this country, not belittled and attacked, whether by leaders/presidents who create and influence policy or by pundits and actors speaking on the behalf of those leaders’ campaigns for reelection. Aimee
“The way I see it, Obama has had four years to begin to turn the economy around, and he’s failed.”
You and I have a small disagreement on this one point. The only time I credit Obama with telling the truth, that I can think of at this moment, is when he promised to fundamentally change our nation. He takes us down the road to economic slavery and redistribution at every level, and has been managing the economy downward as fast as he dares. And he is succeeding.
Whatever economic growth we are experiencing is despite his efforts, not because of his efforts.
Point well taken, sir. Thanks for the comment.