I read an interesting article questioning whether we should get rid of "first ladies." This excellent article, by Katha Pollitt of "The Nation" seemed to indicate that first ladies aren't nearly so important outside of the U.S. and the U.K. Is that the case?
While it looks like Howard Dean is no longer in the race (and I don't intend to make this a political thread), his wife has been brought up time and time again. After all, she doesn't wear make-up or like clothes all that much! She actually liked the rhododendron that she received from Howard for her birthday! In fact, when being grilled by Diane Sawyer about this, she had the gall to say, "I'm not a very 'thing' person." This unpopular presidential candidate's wife likes camping, bike-riding, picnics. She volunteers, loves her work as a community physician, and spends lots of time with her kids. Curses! How could she possibly make a good first lady?! When Diane Sawyer was interviewing her and she denied liking clothes, Sawyer "cut to a photo of Laura Bush, smiling placidly in a red ball gown."
Even the supposedly liberal NY Times criticises her. On the front page of the Jan. 13 issue the woman reporter commented on her "sensible slipper flats and no makeup or earrings."
As Ms. Pollitt says, isn't it refreshing to have a politician's wife who doesn't fawn all over her husband? Who has a life and career of her own? Who considers tending to her patients or being at home with her kids more important than stomping around on the campaign trail?
Ms. Pollitt asks another wonderful question: If a woman were to run for president, would the country expect the physician husband to abandon his ailing patients and high-school-aged son to soften her image? In fact, she says, the public would consider the man a wimp, a loser, or even weird.
A president should have a supportive wife, certainly. However, we have gone waaay too far in the the U.S. with expectations of "first ladies." BTW, the article also refers to Cherie Blair, saying "how long would Britain's answer to Hillary Rodham Clinton have lasted over here?" What exactly does that mean?
