As an academic I am certainly not someone who can claim to have her pulse on the thoughts and feelings of the American public. However, I have to wonder how good the media is at this- particularly in reference to the Hilary Rosen gaffe about how Ann Romney had "never worked a day in her life."
The first question that comes to mind is: what was the context of that statement? The media did not ask that, but instead flashed across the tweet and ran with it. Ok, fine- it was a dumb thing to say (on many levels- at the very least it was not politic), and possibly wrong, and certainly offensive to Mrs. Romney. On the other hand, however badly worded, her statement was a protest against Mrs. Romney being put up as some sort of hero of the working class. There really isn't any way of saying something like this in a polite manner, and it should probably not be said at all. I think President Obama's statement about leaving the candidates' families out of this scrum was very well said.
However, this shit storm that everyone has jumped into with energy and even glee ends up covering up serious issues that are relevant. Millions of mothers and fathers in this country have to make very hard choices due to economics that wealthier parents simply do not face. That is the fact of capitalism- there are winners and there are losers, and both sets procreate. The losers and the lesser winners face financial hardships that the top echelon (of which the Romneys are very happy members) simply do not face. This is true, it is an issue, and it is really where I wish this discussion would go. Talking about the ridiculous statement made by Ms Rosen is absolutely a worthwhile discussion, but it should not stop there and it should lead to these other points. Rich people and poor people both have children, and taking care of a child takes a huge amount of effort and time and care regardless of how big one's bank account is- again, no one should think otherwise. The difference is that so many families deal with the burden of financial hardship, and that absolutely can make the entire project of raising kids that much harder.
Yes, yes, yes: so many more people these days, thankfully, seem to agree that being a stay-at-home mom is a job. That is a new-ish development in this era, and it is a good one. But moms have different resources at their disposal and this is where we are missing out when we focus solely on Rosen's ill-chosen words and not move on to the substance of the discussion.
