ad nauseum alert: another Ann Romney post

[kag]

I've been putting off contributing my two cents, but in case anyone can stomach any more "Hilary Rosen should never have apologized to Ann Romney" stories, here's mine:

I probably have more in common with Ann than I do Hilary Rosen. I have been lucky enough to stay home and care for my children while my husband earned money for us. (Though, I didn't have nannies and drivers and tutors, etc.) Also, like Ann, I have some health issues that have made things more difficult, but I have good health insurance through my husband's job, so...no complaints.

But here's where we differ:

When I meet women who don't have the fortune that I have had, or even simply have chosen to be the (or a) bread winner for the family, I don't get defensive and critical. I always believed that because I had made the decisions I made, it was sort of my "job" to volunteer at elementary school and help out the kids whose mothers might not have the choices that I have had, or who simply chose differently. When I meet mothers who work outside the home--for whatever reason--I tip my hat and shut the hell up, because there is a good chance that they would do things differently if they had the opportunity.

[madokie]

1. Yes you have it right

Ann not so much

[NJCher]

2. admirable outlook

I like your thinking.


Cher

[Sarah Ibarruri]

3. I don't understand your point. Please elaborate. nt

[kag]

5. I thought it was fairly clear, but...

The point isn't so much the amount of work we do. All moms work. That's a meme that everyone from Romney to Obama to...well...me...have been throwing around since all of this started. But Ann Romney had LOTS of choices. She could have chosen to work outside the home, probably in her chosen profession at a well-paying job, or she could have chosen to stay home and be a mom and actually do things like volunteer in schools regularly and change diapers and drive the kids to little league and ballet and piano practice, or she could have chosen what she did, which was to stay home, hire lots of help, and do whatever she damn well pleased, and call it "work".

Most women don't have that many choices. In fact, most women--and I believe, the women to whom Hilary Rosen was referring--MUST work outside the home, usually in jobs that don't pay well and very likely not in their chosen field or even a field they particularly care about. Lots of single mothers are stuck in low-paying jobs with crappy benefits and they have NO CHOICE but to stay in them because it's her family's only source of income.

So, it's about choice. And more and more women are having their choices reduced, including the choice of whether and when to become a mother in the first place.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

6. Sorry about that. Yes, I understand it. You're right. It is all about choice. Great point!

The less choices one has, the more one's hands are tied.

[southernyankeebelle]

4. Maybe you were just raised right to believe in getting back to your community. Sometimes

it isn't money communities need. You helped in the schools and in your communities and these are the places we really need help in. Like JFK and his family were taught to give back. That is the difference between Mittens and you and what the Kennedys learned.