Yesterday the news was buzzing about the battle brewing between democratic strategist Hilary Rosen and Ann Romney, wife of Mitt Romney. It seems that Mitt made a comment about listening to his wife on issues dealing with women’s policies and economics and Hilary said, "Guess what, his wife has actually never worked a day in her life." Since yesterday things have somewhat improved with Rosen apologizing and both sides of the political arena offering their opinions about the hardest job on earth; being a mom.
The battle is pitting women against women, stay at home moms against moms in the workplace. One class left out of the argument is the mom who chooses to go to work simply because she wants to go to work. And what about the stay at home dads? Do they not count?
This whole political mess stirred up a lot of different thoughts and memories for me and took me back to the days when women were at last making a real dent in corporate America. In the early 80s women were finally starting to climb the corporate ladder and assert their leadership, independence and business acumen. At long last women were making strides in the workplace and stepping away from the stereotypical job titles. Along the way though were the few overly aggressive women who took things a bit too far and who were labeled, well, “bitches”.
Fast forward to 2012, the careless comments from Rosen and I am again reminded of that ugly label from the 80s. Instead of supporting one another, some women criticize, are snarky and pit one against the other. If women want to continue to move forward and continue to be taken seriously they should think before they speak. Regardless of political affiliation, women need to support one another and respect all of our choices; if not we will fall backwards instead of moving ahead.
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