I hate this debate about Ann Romney. Any time women become the focus of discussion
like this, it turns into feminist BS that, to me, is so outrageous and
insulting that I can’t stand it. We’re
not moving forward when we have to fight over stuff like this.
Hilary Rosen, a Democratic pundit, wants the world to know
that Ann Romney has never worked a day in her life. What
is she thinking, bringing up this petty nonsense?
Uh, who cares?
Anybody? Thanks for letting us
know, Hilary. Now shut up and go
away.
Ann Romney doesn’t have to work to earn my respect. She gets my respect for signing up to be a
politician’s wife. Can you imagine what
it must be like, day after day, following around someone like Mitt Romney? She always has to be pressed and dressed,
smiling and friendly. She may have fancy
dinners and she may have a stylist and make-up artist and personal assistants,
but she’s still a person who has to deal with media scrutiny like this and much
worse. That’s work, hard work, whether
she’s earning a paycheck or not.
I WISH I had never worked a day in my life. I wish I had never worked at JC Penney for
years and years. I wish that my main
concerns in life would have been experimenting with my hair after school or
reading more books just for fun. I
really can’t imagine doing any of that, and I honestly prefer to hold a job. But I truly doubt that Ann’s life was so
simple. No one’s could be.
I’m sure that Hilary Rosen started this discussion about Ann
because Hilary wants to make Ann a factor in our voting decision come election
day. Hilary wants us to think that Ann
is just another piece in the puzzle that makes up Mitt Romney: so filthy rich, so
grossly out of touch, so privileged that there’s no way he could govern the
United States in this day and age. Hilary,
let me assure you that Ann could never affect me in that way. Ann’s stay-at-home status isn’t going to keep
me from voting for her husband. (He’s
not getting my vote regardless. Though
he is a worthy candidate, I’ll give the Republicans credit there.) Anyway, I was saying, no potential first lady
has ever had an effect on who I cast my vote for on election day, nor will she
ever. Let’s be serious.
(Funny that if I were voting for a woman for president, I
feel like I would be really interested in who her husband is… when the shoe’s
on the other foot…)
What really annoys me is these pundits who characterize Ann
Romney’s work - raising her children - as a luxury when opposed to working any
other way. I doubt that Ann Romney sat
down and said, “I’m never going to get a job.”
I bet it didn’t go down like that.
Furthermore, I doubt that, at the end of another luxurious day at
home, when all her FIVE munchkins were in bed, Ann thought to herself, “I feel
great! I’m not the least bit tired, my
knees feel great after playing on the floor all day and my back isn’t shot from
carrying the kids around, I’m totally not hungry after feeding the children
three-quarters of everything I intended to eat today, and I bet everyone at the
grocery store thought I was a great mom when all the children were hanging onto
my shirt whining endlessly over nothing of consequence.” For real.
And what effect does her not working have on her opinion of
the economy? I work every day and I’m
sure I have barely a grasp on the economy.
Maybe Ann has so much money that she didn’t have to plan a budget to pay
her bills. Maybe she has so much money
that she doesn’t pay her bills because maybe someone does ALL of that for
her. That would be luxury.
I bet that Ann is a very smart woman. I bet that she counts her blessings on her
fingers and her toes and her kids’ fingers and toes. We should all be so lucky. I don’t envy her and I don’t begrudge
her. I would like to congratulate her
for living a life that shines so brightly that she’s now the focus of all this
big talk. Unimportant people, people
like me, will never make a splash like this.
Good for you, Ann.
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