Ann Romney’s speech at the Republican National Convention on Tuesday night got Laura Wood, the so-called Thinking Housewife, pining for a world in which the dirty world of politics was limited to dudes.
When women were denied the vote, they could reside on a higher plane, far from the oily ministrations of politicians. Now, at every convention, we must hear about the first date of the presidential candidate and his wife. We must see them kiss and be told by both how wonderful women are. The governor of South Carolina, Nikki Haley, and Luce Vela, the wife of the governor of Puerto Rico, also appeared last night and I couldn’t help but feel, given their outfits and grooming, that I was watching a political version of the Miss America contest.
My only question is why Ms. Housewife was watching the convention at all. If politics is so “oily” and gross and inherently unladylike, shouldn’t a good old-fashioned gal like her be studiously avoiding its corrupting influence? Weren’t there any doilies in the house that needed dusting?
One would think returning women to their ‘rightful’ status as only housewives would similarly be beneath her, if one applied any consistency to her thoughts whatsoever.
And apparently she’s thinking too. Hope she got permission from her husband.
Does one even dust doilies? Wouldn’t you just replace them or throw them in the washing machine? I’m not up on the latest in doily technology, but I wouldn’t think dusting would be something you’d do with them, would you?
She’s almost onto a point there that female politicians are judged too much on their looks and not on their abilities and beliefs. And politicians’ wives are treated like accessories. Unfortunately, that one good point got lost in the rest of her misogynistic drivel.
But anyway, if she doesn’t want to vote, she doesn’t have to. It pisses me off, though, that she thinks she gets to make that decision for every other woman.
That higher plane is not high enough not to be affected by politics.
It seems like she has a problem not just with women voting, but with politicians having wives, or more specifically, with politicians letting their wives outdoors.
I always think it’s funny when people like her try to claim that everything “masculine” is sullying a woman’s purity and cleanliness, then suggest women should stick to pursuits like mothering and nursing. Which involve handling large quantities of human feces and temper tantrums. Nothing dirty or demanding there, no way…
Normally I’m not a fan of the “just jealous” theory, but every single thing this woman writes about other women reeks of it.
It’s funny, but that “higher plane” argument is very similar to the arguments used at the turn of the century against women having the vote: we don’t want to sully the keepers of hearth and home with the dirty, dirty world of politics; women can exercise their moral influence through their husbands, etc. Bullshit then, bullshit now.
Captain Bathrobe – Your really high-maintenance doilies (and if you have any other kind, you’re not a real woman and you hate your family) are too expensive to toss and too fragile to launder. It’s handwashing all the way.
Silly people, you don’t dust doilies, you put them on cats.
Nice, dusting off the golden oldies!! This theory that women should not be “dirtied” by participating in politics was an often cited reason to deny them the vote in the first place.
I almost agree with her on this. The appearance of female politicians is ludicrously over-analysed by the media, which forces them to pay more attention to and make more effort with their appearance than focus on their job, because it’s the only way they can get ahead and actually concentrate on their job. It’s a bit of a catch-22.
But that’s not what wifey-pants thinks, she just wants to be nasty about other women for reasons I’m fairly sure she makes up on the spot. Certainly nothing to do with god, since I’m convinced she’s never actually seen a bible, let alone adhered to any of its teachings. She may follow a church but she sure as hell doesn’t follow the teachings of Jesus. I may be an atheist, but I’m a better christian than she ever will be, the spiteful shitbadger.
/tired rant
Also, there used to be a pro-voting advert that got shown in the UK around election times. It was two guys sat in the pub talking, and one said ‘Oooh no, I don’t do politics’, and then every time he tried to start a conversation about any topic (price of a pint, potholes in the road, TV licences etc.), the other guy would shut him up and say ‘I thought you didn’t do politics?’.
Because, realistically, everything a person really cares about and enjoys is to do with politics. But if wifey-pants doesn’t want to concern herself with it, she can go sit in a pink frilly cave and leave the rest of us alone.
Yeah, proper dollies should take a little work to keep her busy. Handwashing them is no big deal. The part where you tack them so as to retain their proper shape and then starch them takes some work though.
I wonder if she has ever studied history? Asristocratic and noble women were required to understand politics. So were women whose husbands belonged to the wealthier classes, and they were required to assist their husbands in maintaining the families social station or bettering it. Why do they think women were so invested in good matches for their children?
Wifey-pants really needs to get over her desire to have her personal choices validated by having every single other woman emulate them. Is her particular cult one of the ones that hates therapy?
@ShadetheDruid: It’s Her Royal Highness, and Empress of India!
This is all about the fact that The Thinking Housewife hates women, including herself. She doesn’t want to see women or hear anyone be concerned about their lives. TTH doesn’t think she’s worth it, so none of us are.
I didn’t watch the RNC, but it’s obvious that Ann Romney’s speech was an effort to undo some of the damage the Republicans have done to women’s rights over the last couple of years. Good luck with that, Repubs!
Oh, and it’s SO gendered, too. If the appearance of male politicians is discussed, it’s usually in feminizing terms, like focusing on John Edwards’s haircuts but ignoring how much all those suits must cost for all of them.
Ha, yeah, and she followed it up by appearing in front of a group of Latina women and lecturing them about how they all need to get over their “biases” and vote Republican. Yup, it’s the Latinos who are biased in this equation!
Hope this works…
Well, that failed. Let’s try this.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=416527225071723
That’s a fun post. Especially the very beginning…
“The out-sized ego of the American woman, which is like a bobbing inflatable on the political landscape, received major injections of hot air last night at the Republican Convention in Tampa.”
…and the end:
“It’s true she didn’t recognize all women. She ignored those who give up all remuneration to bear and raise the next generation.”
So it’s a sin to stroke the egos of working women, and a travesty to not stroke the egos of stay at home women. Is it only pandering if it hits the wrong target?
@thenatfantastic,
“Spiteful shitbadger.” Close cousin to the vicious crapweasel?
@captainbathrobe
Yep, of the ‘vermicious knid’ family.
@pillowinhell
did dkm get loose on your computer? 😛