Ann Romney: I CHOOSE MY CHOICE [View all]

[kpete]

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It was a three-fer, demonstrating that Ann Romney is a master at the language of meaningless bullshit: Invoking the questionable assumption that fertility equals goodness, I CHOOSE MY CHOICE, and of course, posturing about how stay-at-home mothers work so hard and YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW.

The last one may be one of my least favorite of meaningless platitudes in circulation in the U.S., the whole "stay-at-home moms are the hardest working, bestest people that ever worked!" one. It's a common feature on STFU Parents, with housewives braying about how, unlike everyone else, they work 24/7 and don't get vacations and blah blah.

There's a very serious and insulting problem with this platitude: It carries with it the assumption that working mothers (a term that is commonly understood to mean women who have paid employment while raising children at home) don't raise their children.

Think about it: Romney is saying she made the "choice" to raise her five boys by staying home, as if her boys would have gone unraised if she'd had a job outside of the home. To which I say, screw you. My mom worked. In this country, most moms work. Their kids don't run around like wild animals, naked and barefoot and killing pigeons to survive. Hell, in some families, believe it or not, dads some times pitch in and raise their kids. (That last bit was mega-sarcasm, for the utterly literal.)

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more:
http://pandagon.net/index.php/site/comments/the-general-election-has-started-and-the-stupid-levels-are-already-off-the




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The Romney/Ryan Budgets Cuts In Anti-Poverty Spending Would Disproportionately Impact Women
By Matthew Yglesias | Posted Thursday, April 12, 2012, at 11:02 AM ET


http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2012/04/12/the_romney_ryan_budgets_cuts_in_anti_poverty_spending_would_disproportionately_impact_women.html