As a single woman, I have felt the stress throughout the years of having to make my own living, pay for my own healthcare, support myself alone without a safety net. I have often thought the role of a married woman who doesn’t work outside the home – who is financially supported – is an enormously privileged one. Yes, raising kids is a difficult and honorable path. I would have loved it. But I also understand what Hilary Rosen was trying to say. If a woman has never had to worry about making the rent, so to speak, she hasn’t experienced the difficulties so many women have and isn’t representative of them. Don’t let them hijack the real message. Again.
#1 by spiritledmom on April 14, 2012 - 8:43 am
I believe we understand Ms. Rosen’s point, but she used poor choice of words. Maybe if she would have said Mrs. Romney hasn’t had financial hardship, then that would have received less criticism, then saying “she hasn’t worked a day in her life.” I have been a single mom, working mom and now I get the chance to be a stay at home mom/college student (on a household income of less than $45k). In reality, many single moms have had it financially harder than any woman in politics…but can’t say that may be entirely true either because I know of women who started out having financial hardship and then worked their way to the top.
#2 by Nancy on May 4, 2012 - 1:05 pm
I grow so weary of women criticizing the choices other women have made. I do not understand why we can’t be more supportive of one another. Some women really want to stay at home (with or without children), some women want/need to work (single, married, with or without children). The ones I feel sorry for are the ones who cannot do what they want or need to do —- the mom who cannot for financial or other reasons stay home with her children; the mom who is miserable staying home with her children but cannot go to work because husband, church, culture……………. say she must stay home. There are so many reasons why women make the decisions that they do and second guessing and judging one another is so counter-productive. There are many women in professional positions who make there companies/offices more family friendly and supportive because they can understand what too many men cannot. There are women who are quite capable of running volunteer organizations – fundraising, organizing………….. I know a woman in my community who has been able to raise $1million to start a home to help children who have been involved in child-traficing. There are women who just want to work at whatever their job is and feel they are contributing. There are women who have no desire or need to work but do hours and hours of voluteer work in their communities, their children’s school…………….
Why aren’t ALL these choices valid and acceptable???
As for Hilary Rosen — I don’t know if her statement was a planned political
one to boost Obama/make Romney look bad, but it backfired because instead of criticizing Romney, she passed judgement on Ann Romney and made it sound like she has no social redeeming value because she has never had to work for a paycheck. To her credit, she has made several gracious and sincere apologies.
I love Cokey Robert’s statement that women criticizing women is absurd and Megyn Kelly who asked — “Didn’t we do this in junior highschool?”
Would that we could just embrace one another!!!